Daily Times

LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Finance Hashim Jawan Bakht on Monday presented the Punjab Budget 2021-22 in the provincial assembly with a total outlay of Rs2.653 trillion with tax concessions worth Rs50billion, Rs196billion allocation for South Punjab, Rs370billion for the health sector and Rs 442billion for the education sector.

Presenting the budget, Bakht said that the budget of Punjab would be the guarantor of development and prosperity. He said that even the developed countries were helpless due to Coronavirus pandemic but PTI government provided relief to the poor people during pandemic.

He specially thanked Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar for his efforts in the development programme. “We couldn’t have done this if it wasn’t without the support of Usman Buzdar,” said Bakht.

“In PTI’s regime, we focused mainly on the economic policy and controlled spending to make way for new schemes. The Pakistan Economic Survey (PES) 2021 proposed GDP growth rate at 3.94%, an estimate above the one made by the International Monetary Fund,” said the Minister.

He further disclosed that remittances had soared at a historic high of $29 billion in the FY 2020-21 while funds approved for sectors such as- lindustry, agriculture, livestock, and tourism for the purpose of economic growth were approx Rs 58billion, a bumper 234% increase.

Lahore which has huge economic, social and cultural significance has been allocated Rs 28 billion for health, infrastructure and surface water treatment plant while the social sector allotment approved is Rs 205 billion, a 100% increase from last year.

The minister announced that all the 721,000 Punjab government employees from Grade 1 to 19 will get a 10% increase in their salary while pensioners will get a similar increase. He announced a special 25% allowance for “financially distressed employees”.

Key figures:

• Provincial revenue at Rs 359 billion
• Rs189 billion for south Punjab
• Rs56 billion tax relief package
• Rs106 billion package for Covid19
• Rs1428 billion budget expenditure
• Rs45 billion for development
• Rs24 billion for mother and child healthcare
• Rs11 billion for primitive healthcare
• Rs3.5 billion for trauma centers
• Rs15 billion for higher education
• Rs17 billion for Engineering and technical education university in Sialkot
• Rs28 billion for infrastructure projects in Lahore
• Rs300 billion for 200 electric buses
• Rs1.3 billion for the SME sector
• Rs10 billion for the Punjab Rozgar Programme
• Rs17 billion for employment programmes
• Rs5 billion for subsidies of farmers
• Rs 17.2 billion for the Primary & Secondary Healthcare (P&SH) sector
• Rs 887.522 million for the Prime Minister Health Initiative
• Rs 500 million for Chief Minister’s Programme for construction/Rehabilitation/Provision of Missing Health Facilities in less Developed areas
• Rs 350 million for preventive healthcare
• Rs 78.7 billion for Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education (SH&ME) sector
• Rs 1119 million for ongoing schemes of medical education
• Rs 6150 million for sports & youth affairs – Rs 2,911.449 million were allocated for ongoing
  schemes and Rs 3,238.551 million were earmarked for new schemes
• Rs 43 million for College of Paramedics at Toba Tek Singh
• Rs 1,000 million for Nishtar Hospital Multan and Rs 2000 million for Pakistan Kidney & Liver Institute and Research Centre Lahore.
• Rs 31,497 million as development budget for the agriculture sector