Daily Times

LAHORE: Punjab Governor Malik Muhammad Rafique Rajwana on Friday summoned the budget session of the Punjab Assembly on May 14, 2018 at 3pm.

In the coming session, supplementary budget for the financial year 2017-18 will be presented. The Punjab governor has called this session by exercising of the power conferred under rule 147 read with rule 134 of the Rules of Procedure of Provincial Assembly of Punjab for the presentation of the supplementary budget statement for the financial year 2017-18 before the House.

Gazette notification to this effect has been issued by the assembly secretariat on Friday and a copy of the notification has also been forwarded to Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, all provincial ministers, Leader of the Opposition Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed, adviser to CM Punjab, all parliamentary secretaries and legislators. Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan will preside this 36th session of the assembly.

According to the parliamentary sources, the government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz would also present a quarterly budget of the next financial year as it has already been prepared by the finance department in which no funds for any new development project are allocated. The sources confirmed that the other remaining eight months of the next financial year would present the new elected government after the scheduled upcoming general elections in July this year.

The parliamentary sources also coined their views that Shehbaz Sharif’s government was not interested to introduce any new tax in the next budget but wants to give some relief to masses for securing its vote bank in the province in general elections.

Published in Daily Times, May 12^th 2018.