Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Senator Ahad Khan Cheema has directed the National Highway Authority (NHA) to prioritize financially viable projects and prepare a practical business plan to ensure long-term sustainability and prevent excessive debt-servicing obligations.
Chairing a meeting to review the NHA’s financial position, business plan and ongoing assessment by an Asian Development Bank (ADB) consultant, Cheema emphasized the need for clear implementation timelines and an evaluation of the authority’s institutional capacity.
He directed the NHA to include realistic commercial indicators in project planning documents, known as PC-Is, to support their assessment by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP). He also called for projects to be classified according to financial viability and funding requirements to guide investment decisions.
The minister stressed that external or commercial financing must not lead to cuts in the NHA’s allocation under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), saying federal development funding remained essential to the authority.
He also called for the early sharing of project feasibility assessments with the Finance Division’s Central Monitoring Unit (CMU).
Cheema urged the NHA to speed up coordination with the ADB consultant on project mapping, feasibility studies and financial modelling to identify economically viable investments and reduce future debt-servicing risks.
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