INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KARACHI: Sindh chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday presented a Rs1,217 billion zero deficit budget for the next financial year,
2019-20 in which a 15 percent salary and pension has been increased across the board.In the budget Peoples Promise Programme, a programme
for poverty reduction as pledged by the Chairman PPP in his election campaign has also been unveiled
In the next budget first priority in terms of budgetary allocations has been be given to education and then health and law and order
Revised estimates: The chief minister said that the Federal government has revised federal transfers from budgetary estimates of
Rs665.085 billion to Rs631.543 billion, but, such claims were misleading
He added that the federal government failed to assess its own fiscal position and erroneously communicated two different figures of revised
Federal Transfers within a matter of days
&In the last 11 months, Sindh has received only Rs492.135 billion on account of Federal Transfers and it is anticipated that by the end of
financial year the shortfall would be Rs117.527 billion,& he said
Revised Revenue Targets: The revenue targets of the province have been revised from Rs243.082 billion to Rs240.746 billion
As a result, against an estimated budgetary amount of Rs1.123 trillion, the revised receipts for Current Financial Year stand at Rs963.699
billion.The provincial government, as stated by the chief minister had to cut down it development expenditure which now stands at Rs172.941
billion for current financial year
This has affected development endeavours of the provincial government
Many development schemes that could have been completed have been delayed due to non-availability of funds
Similarly, on the Current Revenue Side estimates have been revised from Rs773.237 billion to Rs751.751 billion
The reduction on the current revenue side is primarily because of the severe austerity measures and strict financial discipline.Budget
Estimates 2019-20:The total receipts of the province for the financial year 2019-20 are estimated at Rs1.217 trillion against an estimated
expenditure of Rs1.217 trillion
As Federal Transfers, the province is expected to receive Rs835.375 billion
Receipts from Federal Government will account for 74.3 percent of the total receipts
He said that the federal government has failed to achieve its target in yesteryears
We have adapted the figures communicated to us by the Federal Government
We strongly apprehend that Federal Government will not be able achieve its target unless drastic structural changes are introduced
Failure to achieve its targets will create financial problems for the Provincial Government during the next financial year 2019-20
Our own provincial receipts are growing steadily and provincial revenue targets are increased from Rs243.082 billion in 2018-19 billion to
Rs355.4 billion for financial year 2019-20.On the current revenue side, the expenditure budget is estimated at Rs.870.217 billion which
shows an increase of 12.5 percent over the current year allocation of Rs.773.237 billion
This increase in expenditure is primarily in the employee related expenses which could not have been avoided
Similarly, the impact of increasing utilities has been absorbed
Our austerity policy shall continue during the next financial year
We have introduced major cuts in operating expenses
However, it would not be done at the cost of social sectors.TheIndianSubcontinent has not verified the content of the source
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