Charter of the Economy PROVINCIAL 1. Escalation in Water Charges(Abiana) 2. Escalation in Various Tolls and Service Charges TOTAL OVERALL TOTAL 0.125 0.125 0.250 0.750 In particular, there is a strong need for raising the irrigation water charges(Abiana) by the Provincial Governments, which are currently very low and cover only 8% of the O&M cost of the irrigation system, especially in Punjab and Sindh. A big increase is essential to prevent wasteful use of scarce water supplies. Further, efforts should be made to increase the profitability and dividends of SOEs through privatization, efficiency improvements, and appropriate pricing policies. The extremely high-interest rates should also lead to a big increase in the flow of profits from the SBP to the Government. This has already happened in the first half of 2022-23. 14.3 Rationalization of an Economy in Expenditure The level of public expenditure as% of the GDP has been consistently on the rise since 2015­16 up to 2021-22, as shown in Table 14.3. However, it is anticipated that it will decline by 1.5% of the GDP in 2022-23, which will help in containment of the size of the budget trends. Table 14.3: Level and Composition of Public Expenditure by the Federal and Provincial Governments (Rs in Billion) 2015-% of 2018-% of 2021-% of 2022-% of 16 GDP 19 GDP 22 GDP 23(P) GDP A. COMBINED Current Expenditure 4694 14.3 7104 16.2 11521 17.2 13900 16.4 Debt Servicing 1263 3.9 2091 4.8 3182 4.8 5200 6.1 Defence* 758 2.3 1147 2.6 1411 2.1 1600 1.9 Others** 2673 8.1 3866 8.8 6928 10.3 7180 8.4 Development Expenditure 1314 4.0 1241 2.8 1657 2.5 1600 1.9 Total Expenditure 6008 18.3 8345 19.0 13178 19.7 15500 18.2 B. SEPERATELY Total Expenditure 6008 18.3 8345 19.0 13178 19.7 15500 18.2 Federal 3826 11.7 5489 12.5 8762 13.1 10800 12.7 Provincial 2182 6.6 2856 6.5 4416 6.6 4700 5.5 *does not include military pensions and expenditure on civil armed forces **includes subsidies, grants, pensions, costs of administration, etc. 115