Daily Times

The Balochistan government on Monday unveiled a budget with a total outlay of Rs750 billion and a deficit of Rs49 billion. As per the budget document, Rs437 billion have been allocated for non-development expenditures whereas Rs229 are proposed for Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). The provincial finance minister, Engineer Zmarak Khan Achakzai, while announcing the budget, said that a 35% hike has been proposed in the salaries of government employees from grade-1 to grade-16. Similarly, a 30% increase in the salaries of grade-17 to grade-22 employees has been recommended. The pensions of retired employees have been jacked up by 17.5%, he added. In addition to this, the budget document revealed, the minimum wage of a labourer of the provincial government has been increased to Rs32,000 from Rs25,000. The document stated that 4,389 new positions have been created in the budget whereas the province will receive Rs521 billion under the NFC award for the next fiscal year. The budget document revealed that the estimated income from the expansion of Sui gas pipeline is Rs55 billion whereas the province would also receive Rs37 billion in terms of foreign assistance. It further said that the estimated total revenue for Balochistan for the next fiscal year is Rs701 billion.