THE GILGIT-BALTISTAN FINANCE ACT-2025

An

Act

To give effect to the financial proposals of the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Government and to
bring financial discipline during the year beginning on the first day of July 2025.

WHEREAS it is expedient to make provisions to give effect to the financial

proposals of the GB Government for the year beginning on the first day of July-2025 for
the purpose hereinafter appearing.

It is hereby enacted as follows: —

1. Short Title and Commencement. — (1) This Act shall be called the Gilgit-
Baltistan Finance Act-2025.

(2) It shall, unless specified otherwise, come into force at once.

2. Estimated Receipts and Expenditure for the Financial Year 2025-26.

Budget Outlay 2025-26

(Rs. Millions)
Source/Description Budget Estimates Budget Estimates
2024-25 2025-26
Non-Development Budget 86,600.000 99,160.000
Grant-in-Aid by Federal Government 68,000.000 80,000.000
Local Revenues 5018.937 5,135.000
Outstanding Electricity Bills 1,400.000 1,400.000
GB-Revenue Authority Targets 1,303.330 2,000.000
Deficit Financing 10,625.000 10,202.000
Hiring of 1000 Teachers (Saving) 252.733 0.000
Development Budget 34,500.000 75,00.000
ADP Allocation (Rupee Component) 20,000.000 22,000.000
FEC Component 1,000.000 1,000.000
Federal PSDP 9,500.000 48,000.000
Federal PSDP (PM Initiatives) 4,000.00 4,000.00

3. Contract, Contingent and Seasonal Labor Appointments. (1) Contract

appointments under Annual Development Program (ADP)/Public Sector Development
Program (PSDP) projects fulfilling requirements of laws, rules and procedures shall remain
admissible.

(2) There shall be a ban on hiring of fresh Contingent Paid Staff (CPS) against
the Regular Budget, Development Budget and both Regular and Development Grants of
the LG&RD Department, except with the prior approval of the Chief Minister, GB with
the prior concurrence of Finance Department. This condition shall also apply to seasonal
labor engaged by the Works Department. Any hiring in violation of these conditions shall
be deemed as illegal.

(3) The extensions of all existing biometric verified contingent staff and other
Contingent Staff appointed under Section 3(2) may be granted by the Administrative
Secretary concerned for a period not exceeding one year.

4. Repair and Maintenance. — (1) Departments shall carry out repair and
maintenance work under Regular budget only. Administrative Approval (AA) for R&M
work beyond sanctioned budget shall only be issued after securing funds. In case of any
violation, the accrued liability shall be illegal and the same shall be the personal liability of
the officer(s) of the concerned executing department/agency.

(2) Execution of any repair and maintenance work on the directives of Executive
authorities outside the limits of the sanctioned budget shall be subject to formal
input/approval of the Finance Department.

(3) All the departments shall develop and implement the Asset Management
System (AMS) for the utilization of funds under repair and maintenance of machinery,
equipment and other physical assets. All routine repair and maintenance of C&W and
W&P must be verified by third party (Commissioners/ DCs). Access may be given to DCs/
Commissioners on EMS for verification. A report of the execution of routine repair and
maintenance work will also be submitted by respective DCs/Commissioners in each quarter
with pictorial evidence and videos to the Finance Department.
5. Emergency Procurement of Works and Services. — (1) The following
authorities may declare an emergency:

S. No Authority Responsibility Timelines

1. Deputy Commissioner (Chairman)
2. Executive Engineer/Deputy Director Declaration of all within 7 days of
1 Concerned kinds of the Occurrence
3. Assistant Director GBDMA emergencies of event.
4. Treasury Officer
1. ACS P&D (Chairman)
2. Secretary of the department Decide the
2 3. Secretary Home and Prisons Scrutiny matter within 30
4. DG GBDMA (Secretary) committee days of
5. Commissioner Concerned declaration of
6. AS Finance Emergency
Approving
3. 1. Chief Minister Authority for cases
beyond 20 Mn

(2) Emergency shall be declared by the District Disaster Management Authority

(DDMA) in case of a disaster or any situation that warrants work to be done on an
emergency basis. The DDMA shall declare an emergency within Seven days of the
occurrence of the Disaster and prepare cost estimation for the restoration. The DDMA shall
also recommend cases where immediate intervention is required proactively to save lives,
property or crops etc. and the same may also be highlighted for inclusion in ADP for next
FY if time frame allows. The declaration of emergency with cost estimations shall be
forwarded to scrutiny committee with pictorial evidence and videos on EMS/Software
within 3 days of the declaration of emergency.

Scrutiny committee shall scrutinize the emergencies declared by the DDMA

(3)
immediately but not later than 30 days of the occurrence of the event and if satisfied will
approve the emergency declared and issue administrative approval of schemes worth up to
20 million and same may be recommended to Chief Minister for approval if the cost of
scheme is above 20 Mn. No work shall start unless the scrutiny committee or the Chief
Minister, approves the declaration of emergency by DDMA. All Emergency works shall be
completed within 6 months of declaration of emergency.

(4) The DDMA shall submit all cases of emergency declaration to the Scrutiny
committee through DG, GBDMA.

Explanation: Emergency work shall be carried out primarily for temporary restoration of
the damaged infrastructure or for the provision of bare minimum services after getting a
certificate from the department concerned that no funds are available under the repair and
maintenance head. However, in cases where temporary restoration is not possible,
permanent restoration may be carried out.

(5) In all procurements related to Section-4 and Section 5(1) and (2) of this Act,
there shall be ban on ex-post facto approvals by the respective Administrative Secretaries.
Any such approval, if granted, shall be deemed as illegal and void ab initio.

6. Advance Drawl. — There shall be ban on advance drawl permissions

except for:

(1) In unforeseen circumstances where causes could not be attributed to the

procuring agency provided that planned calendar events shall not fall under this
category.

(2) In cases where investment policies of the funds are approved by the
government e.g. Endowment Funds.

(3) Authorities and other entities which receive Grant in Aid and incur their
expenditure independently without the desk of Accountant General, GB.

7. Asset Inventories. — All departments shall maintain inventories of their

physical assets and establish an Asset Management System (AMS) under PMRU. The
Information Technology Department and PMRU shall ensure digitization of Office
Management Information System (OMIS), Human Resource Management Information
System (HRMIS), Asset Management Information System (AMIS) and any other IT
interventions for digitization of government owned resources in GB.

8. Emergent Nature Work. — (1) The following funds shall be placed at

the disposal of Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners to undertake emergent nature
works, subject to condition that the prescribed limit shall not be exceeded in the given
financial year or create any liability:

Proposed Total Financial

S. No. Authority
Allocation Implication
A. Relief Work on Demand
 1 Commissioners (3-Divisions) 7.500 22.5000
2 Deputy Commissioners (10-Districts) 5.000 50.000
3 ADC (04-Newly established additional districts) 5.000 20.000
Sub Total 72.5000
B. Disaster Mitigation Work
1 Commissioners (3-Divisions) 7.500 22.5000
2 Deputy Commissioners (10-Districts) 5.000 50.000
Sub Total 72.5000
Grand Total 145.000

(2) The following emergent nature work can be carried out from the subject
fund:
(i) Repair and Maintenance of link roads, streets, culverts, head work, water
channels, water courses, drains, water supply/sanitation, primary schools, madrasa
schools, vocational centers, dispensaries, libraries or any other work/service deemed
appropriate by the respective authorities.

(ii) Construction of minor protective bunds, compound walls around

graveyards, public libraries, public parks, playgrounds, public toilets or any other
work/service deemed appropriate by the respective authorities.

(3) Any other relief work or services that is consistent with law and public
service.

(4) The following committees approve and monitor the schemes:

(i) Regional Development Committee:

Commissioner Concerned: Chairman
Deputy Commissioner District concerned Member
Executive Engineer B&R/W&P concerned Member
Rep of the Department concerned Member
Treasury Officer District concerned Member

(ii) District Development Committee:

Deputy Commissioner District concerned Chairman
Executive Engineer B&R/W&P concerned Member
Rep of the Department concerned Member
Treasury Officer District concerned Member

(5) Admin approval shall be issued by the following forums:

(a) Commissioner Concerned at the Regional Level

(b) Deputy Commissioner Concerned at District Level
 (6) GB Public Procurement Rules 2022 and regulations made thereof shall be
observed in letter and spirit while utilizing the funds.

9. Regulation of Expenditure on Official Residences/offices. — General

Administration Department (GAD) in consultation with Works Department and Deputy
Commissioners shall prepare inventories and expenditure trends of Government
Residential Houses/Flats and Government offices to regulate expenditure on repair and
maintenance.

10. Regulation of expenditure under Employee Related Expenses (ERE). —

Office of Accountant General, Gilgit-Baltistan in consultation with Finance Department
shall ensure that expenditure incurred under ERE is in line with updated Statement of
New Expenditure (SNEs). Any payment of pay and allowances made against higher
scales that are not reflected in respective SNEs shall be deemed illegal.

11. Attachment of Government Servants. — There shall be a complete ban on

attachment of staff from one government department to another contrary to GB Civil
Servant Act, and Service Rules, Laws, and Regulations made thereunder. Beyond
sanctioned budget shall only be issued after securing funds.

12. Unauthorized payments beyond Finance Act:- All government

accounting entities shall ensure payment consistent with Finance Act, Financial Rules,
Laws and Regulations, payment made beyond sanctioned budget shall only be issued after
securing funds. In case of any violation, the accrued liability shall be illegal and the same
shall be the personal liability of the officer(s) of the concerned executing
department/agency.

13. Climate Fund Management: there is provision in the development project

namely climate fund @1% of total cost of project, which shall be managed through
following committee

i. Secretary Finance Chairman

ii. Secretary Planning & Development Member
iii. Concerned Administrative Secretary Member
iv. Commissioner Concerned Member
v. Deputy Commissioner District concerned Member
vi. Executive Engineer C&W/W&P concerned Member
vii. Rep of the Department concerned Member
viii. Rep of Forest EPA Member

14. GB-Pay:- all government employees shall pay government dues such as
electricity, water bills through GB-Pay. Concerned PAO shall keep records of the
payments made as such.

15. Schedule of fee/charges. — (1) New or Revised local revenues, as the case
may be, mentioned at Schedule-I of this Act shall be collected by the respective
Departments.

(2) Estimated Local Revenues of Rs. 7,722.267 million shall be collected by the
departments as per Schedule-II of this Act. The rates mentioned in the schedule may be
increased or decreased by the GB Government as and when required.

16. Local Government Fund Sources. — Details of collection of tolls, rates,

fees and charges to be levied by the Local Councils of Gilgit-Baltistan under Schedule-III
of Local Government Act, 2014 shall be shared with Finance Department on monthly
basis.

17. Execution of ADP Schemes under LG&RD Department. – (1) The ADP
Schemes under LG&RD Department amounting up to Rs. 3.000 million shall be executed
under the Local Government (Amendment) Act, 2021 through community participation as
well as under the Local Government & Rural Development Department (Works) Rules,
2022 as amended from time to time.

(2) Provided further that the distribution formula as mentioned in the Works
Rules shall not be applied on the ADP schemes to be executed through community
participation.

18. Levy on Hotels, Motels Guest Houses, and camping sites. — The Excise
& Taxation Department shall start collection of levies envisaged in GB Hotel Regulation
and Levy Act, 2020 with approval of the GB Cabinet.

19. Registration of Tourist Facilities: the Tourism Department shall ensure

implementation and collection of registration fee from all Tourist Facilities throughout
Gilgit-Baltistan.

20. Gilgit-Baltistan Waste Management Company Fund Sources. — The

service delivery charges as approved by the Board of Directors Gilgit-Baltistan Waste
Management Company (GBWMC) from time to time shall be levied and collected by
GBWMC with prior approval of Government of GB.
21. Special Block Allocation of Communication & Works, Water & Power,
Health and Education Department. — Special blocks allocated to Communication &
Works, W&P, Health and Education Departments under major heads shall only be re-
appropriated to other major heads/minor heads with prior approval of the Finance
Department.
22. Contribution of Residential Allottees. — Contribution @ 5% of the
initial basic pay shall be deducted at source, for repair and maintenance, into GB
Consolidated Fund from the Government Employees who are in occupation of official
accommodation.
23. Deposit of Revenue Collections. — All the collections shall be deposited
into Gilgit-Baltistan Consolidated Fund Account through treasury challans instead of cash
collections. Even if collected in cash, the same shall be deposited in the treasury within
twenty-four hours. No government department is allowed to keep revenue receipts of the
government in any commercial or private schedule bank including KCBL without prior
NOC from the Finance Department.
24. Admissibility of Allowances. — There shall be ban on admissibility and
introduction of new Allowances to the Government employees. No department shall initiate
and process such demands taking analogies from other provinces and administrative
units of the country, unless Government decides to initiate the same.

25. Creation and up-gradation of Posts. — No post shall be created or

upgraded without seeking prior concurrence from Finance Division, Islamabad.

26. Identification of Redundant Posts and Creation of Pool. — During the

ban period on creation of posts, S&GAD, in consultation with Departments, shall identify
redundant posts and create a pool. Post from this pool shall be used, through re-
designation, to meet the position where such positions are essentially required.

27. Austerity Measures. (1) Following austerity measures shall be

implemented by all Government functionaries.
(i) There shall be ban on purchase of all type of vehicles both from current
and development expenditures, except utility vehicles such as
ambulances, rescue vehicles, buses for educational institutions, bikes,
solid waste vehicles etc.

(ii) Transfer of employees from one completed project to another project for
the purpose of pay shall be banned except for those recommended by
the competent development forum and approved by the Government.

(iii) Principal Accounting Officers (PAOs) shall ensure rationalized

consumption of utilities, i.e., electricity, gas, telephone etc.

(iv) The expenditure on purchase of assets, repair & maintenance and all other
operational expenditures shall be kept at bare minimum level remaining
within the sanctioned budget.

(v) All outstation meetings shall be conducted through internet link (Zoom
etc.) only, unless physical presence is strongly justified and approved by
the competent authority.

(vi) There shall be complete ban on foreign tours on government expenses

except where in person participation is inevitable.

(vii) There shall be ban on attachment of employees in Gilgit- Baltistan

Secretariat without prior concurrence of Finance Department.

(2) The following Austerity Committee is constituted to periodically review and

ensure implementation of austerity measures, to invite proposals from PAOs for
rationalizing expenditures and to approve proposals for relaxation from the approved
measures:
(a) Minister Finance Government of GB (Chair)
(b) Minister Planning Government of GB (Member)
(c) Finance Secretary (Member/ Secretary)
(d) Secretary S&GAD (Member)
(e) Secretary of the department concerned (Member)
 28. Annual Internal Audit. — All the PAOs shall ensure the internal audit on
quarterly basis as enshrined in GFR and System of Financial Control and Budgeting Rules-
2010 and submit the report to the Finance Department. The Finance Department may
conduct the annual audit of any department including but not limited to revenue collection,
grants-in- aid, block allocations, development and regular budget.

29. Dividend from Karakorum Cooperative Bank Limited (KCBL) Shares

of the Government. — The dividend earned from Rs.800 million KCBL shares of the
Government shall not be utilized for any purpose and the same shall be deposited into GB
Consolidated Fund by GBRSP through the Treasury Office.

30. Benevolent and Group Insurance Fund: A mechanism be devised to

collect compulsory contribution of GIF from Non-gazette employees with prior approval of
GB Cabinet.

31. Contributory Pension: In light of the instruction received from the Federal
Government, a mechanism for contributory pension for all the employees shall be
developed with the approval of Government of Gilgit-Baltistan.

32. Removal of difficulty. — If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the

provisions of this Act, the Government may make such order, not inconsistent with the
provisions of this Act, as it may consider necessary for removal of such difficulty.

33. Power to make rules & regulations. — The Gilgit-Baltistan Government

may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules & regulations for carrying out the
purposes of this Act, if deemed necessary.

34. Overriding effect. — This Act shall override all other laws wherever
applicable.

35. Repeal effect. — The Gilgit-Baltistan Finance Act, 2023 shall stand
repealed except for the Sections referred to be continued and to the extent of orders issued
under this Act.

36. Long Term Advances: — Finance Department in consultation with

Accountant General Gilgit Baltistan shall work out mechanism for disbursement of funds
budgeted against long term advances in respect of Government employees.”

37. Health Endowment Fund: Health Department shall regulate/ control

expenditure from Health Endowment Fund through gate keeping at initial level with the
help of a committee consisting of professionals. The committee shall evaluate the bills/
treatment cost intimated by the empaneled hospital and submit its recommendations.

38. Land compensation

The land compensation amounts shall henceforth be deposited into public
account in respective head of account instead of remitting it to Collectors. Mechanism for
further disbursement to collectors shall be workout by Finance Department in consultation
with relevant stakeholders”

NAZIR AHMAD,
Speaker
Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly.

SYED MEHDI SHAH,

Governor
Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly.