Prioritizing Development Spending • Education • IT and Telecom • Cabinet • Others TOTAL Source: Planning Commission 22 6 28 13 15 28 9 18 27 187 64 251 723 300 1023 4.5 6.7 49.8 99.6 650.0 The‘spreading thin’ of the development process at the Federal level is vividly demonstrated above by Table 13.4 above which indicates the number of projects in the portfolio of each Division and Corporation in 2020-21. The total number of projects in the Federal PSDP is as many as 1023. The largest number of projects, 144, is with the Higher Education Commission even though the share in the PSDP is only 5 percent. Similarly, the Water and Power sectors combined also have a relatively large number of projects at 166. However, they have relatively large allocations. The‘spreading thin’ of the Federal PSDP into too many projects has led to a staggering of the process of completion of projects which has not only led to cost overruns but also to delays in the realization of benefits by the targeted beneficiaries. Table 13.5 highlights the extent of divergence between the planned and actual period of completion of a sample of projects as estimated by the World Bank. On average, projects take twice the planned period for actual completion. Consequently, cost overruns are very sizable, sometimes over twice the original cost estimate of a project. The approval and implementation of new projects are sometimes dictated by the pressure to satisfy different political constituencies. This is especially the case with Special Programs. Table 13.5: Planned versus Actual Period of Completion of Projects in Different Sectors (Months) Planned Actual Ratio SECTORS Roads 23 62 2.7 Irrigation 44 84 1.9 Education 45 68 1.5 Health 32 64 2.0 LOCAL GOVERNMENT Federal 29 62 2.1 Provincial 36 63 1.8 ALL PROJECTS 34 68 2.0 Source: World Bank 135