Punjab Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakhat submitted to the Punjab Assembly the provincial budget proposal for the next fiscal year with a total outlay of Rs2.240.7 billion, including Rs337 billion for growth, in the midst of ruckus created by members of the opposition.
The finance minister said Punjab will earn Rs1,433bn under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award while provincial receipts (own capital revenue) are projected at Rs317bn over the 2020-21 fiscal year.
Terming the provincial budget as “progressive” and “pro-business” in the given circumstances, he added that ongoing expenditure for the next fiscal year was estimated at Rs1,318bn containing Rs337.6bn for wages, while Rs337bn was allocated for expenditure on development, Rs128.40bn for capital expenditure and Rs125bn as provincial surplus.
The finance minister said the government also cut Rs10bn Service Delivery Expenses and raised Rs10bn ‘s budget for the local government. He added that the provincial government intended to save more than Rs19bn by restructuring the pensions.
An amount of Rs11.462bn was earmarked for primary and secondary healthcare in the development budget 2020-21, in which Rs9.502bn was allocated for ongoing primary and secondary healthcare schemes, including Rs25m for local development programs, Rs3.238bn for preventive healthcare, Rs548.699bn for primary healthcare, Rs1.293bn for research and development, Rs3.349bn for secondary healthcare.
Extracted from City42 News
