KARACHI
Sindh government Monday presented its fifth budget for 2017-18 with a total outlay of Rs 1.04 trillion in the Sindh Assembly, an increase of around 13 per cent as compared to last year.
The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, who also holds the portfolio of the finance minister, said, “The total outlay of the budget is over Rs 1 trillion with no new tax in the province.” Provincial budget focused on revenue generation, employment generation, agriculture development and development of rural as well as urban areas, he said.
Total budget of the financial year 2017-18 is estimated over Rs 1.042 trillion with non-development budget estimated at Rs 665 billion while Rs 346 billion were allocated under the head of the annual development programme.
Before the provincial assembly session, the provincial cabinet including the chief minister signed the Finance Bill 2017-18.
The Sindh government would face a shortfall in the range of between Rs 12 billion to Rs 16 billion in meeting its overall expenses in the upcoming financial year, the CM said at the assembly hall.
The cabinet has suggested increasing the vehicles registration fee up to 20 to 25 per cent in the coming budget 2017-18, while people having 120 square yard house or land would be taxed in the province, which the same government exempted about three years ago.
The provincial budgetary estimates for non-development expenses are expected to be Rs 665 billion, while the overall development budget will be around Rs 346 billion. Provincial taxes and non-income has declined during the current fiscal year by 4.1 per cent, the CM said.
An amount of Rs 82 billion has been earmarked for security-related costs, while the government has decided to appoint 10,000 more employments in Sindh police and other securities institutions, while the government would continue it’s spending on security cameras, latest and modern equipment in urban areas, he claimed.
As per its provincial share under the National Finance Commission Award, the government is likely to be allocated Rs 627 billion from the federal government, whereas it is likely to collect above Rs 200 billion under provincial taxes.
A sum of over Rs 42 billion, collected with foreign assistance, will be reserved for ongoing development projects of the province. In the upcoming financial year, the Sindh government is to spend an amount of around Rs 320 million on projects to be developed in the province with the centre’s assistance.
The district Annual Development Programme (ADP) is likely to stand at Rs 30 billion, with an upward revision of Rs 0.05 billion than the previous financial year.
The provincial ADP would stand at approximately Rs 245 billion, with an increase of around Rs 45 billion compared to the passing year. The budget is also expected to include new expenditures worth around Rs 20 billion.
The Sindh government will announce around 46,000 government job vacancies. This would include 14,000 vacancies to regularise the services of lady health workers and 10,000 new jobs in the police force.
The ongoing Karachi development package in the next financial year has been increased and 14 new projects for which a sum of Rs 10 billion has been allocated.
A sum of Rs 202 billion has been earmarked for education, Rs 100.32 billion for health, Rs 88 billion for the law and order, police, prison and home department and Rs 3.5 billion have been allocated for public universities and educational boards. The chief minister announced that government will make 50 new schools in the province in the next fiscal year.
The provincial government will spend Rs 30 billion under the head of district ADP to be executed through local bodies. Rs 11 billion will be earmarked as a special package for Karachi to be spent on different development projects.
In the speech, the chief minister said that the federal government did not release around Rs 108 billion in the current fiscal year and if federal government releases it on time, our development would not hurt, otherwise we will have to face liquidity shortage for the development projects. The government has so far released only Rs 382 billion in last 11 months out of a settled amount of Rs 480 billion. In the last budget, the federal government has announced Rs 493 billion but such amount was revised to Rs 480 billion, he claimed.
