LAHORE: The Punjab government on Friday presented total outlay Rs2,300 billion budget for fiscal year 2019/2020 with Rs233 billion surplus for the fiscal year.
Punjab Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht on floor of the house presented the budget said that total volume of the budget for fiscal year 2019/2020 was Rs2,300 billion up from Rs2,026 billion for the outgoing fiscal year.
He said that allocation for Annual Development Plan (ADP) is Rs350 billion, which is 47 percent higher from current year ADP of Rs238 billion.
The ADP included Rs60.5 billion foreign funded projects and Rs42 billion innovative financing.
For the current expenditure the province has allocated Rs1,299 billion up for 2019/2020 from Rs1,264 billion, which is 2.7 percent higher from the current fiscal year.
The finance minister said that the federal government had set a tax target of Rs5,555 billion for Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for fiscal year 2019/2020. He said that the province would also contributed Rs1,601 billion in the next fiscal year.
The revenue from the province’s own resources will be Rs388.4 billion, 3.31 percent increase from the current fiscal year.
He said that the province had decided to increase salary and pension at par with the federal government.
While non-salary budget has been reduced to Rs279 billion in fiscal year 2019/2020 as compared with current year’s Rs305 billion.
Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht said that present budget has been aimed at austerity and expenditures have been reprioritized. He said that non-salary current expenditures have been reduced by 11 percent. It is decided to cut salary of provincial cabinet by 10 percent.
All operating expenditures have been reduced by 10 percent except procurement of medicines.
Physical assets procurement including vehicles, machinery etc. by all departments has been reduced by 20 percent.