Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Thursday proposed devolving the collection of sales tax on goods to provinces, arguing that provincial revenue authorities had consistently outperformed the FBR and could help bridge the federal fiscal gap while strengthening economic self-sufficiency.
Giving a detailed presentation on provincial governance here at the Presidency, he said the Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) had collected Rs28 billion in 2011, compared to Rs 10 billion collection by the Federal Board of Revenue in 2010, a 68% increase over federal collections at the time, and Rs307 billion in sales tax on services by 2024. He said SRB’s average annual growth rate of 19% far exceeded the Federal Board of Revenue’s 10%.
The event was attended by Acting President Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, members of the Sindh cabinet, parliamentarians, representatives of the business community, diplomats, and media persons.
Focusing on healthcare, the PPP chairman said Sindh had increased health sector allocations from 2.9 per cent of the provincial budget in 2008 to nearly 10pc at present.
As regards education sector, the PPP chairman said the number of public universities in Sindh had risen from 10 in 2008 to 30 today, along with 18 additional university campuses across the province.
On poverty alleviation, he said the Sindh Rural Support Organisation (SRSO) programme had helped lift 1.4 million women out of poverty through soft loans, with a recovery rate of 98%. Recalling the devastating floods of 2022, Bilawal Bhutto said around 2.1 million houses were destroyed across the province. In response, the Sindh government launched a massive housing initiative to build 2.1 million climate-resilient homes. Of these, 750,000 had been completed, while around 1.5 million were under construction. He said the project had created nearly one million jobs, contributing to reduced unemployment and poverty.
In the agriculture sector, he said the provincial government distributed wheat seed worth over Rs2.1 billion to 215,000 farmers following the floods, leading to a bumper wheat harvest of 4.5 million tonnes the following season. He added that 198,000 farmers had benefited from the Benazir Hari Card programme, while a Rs56bn wheat growers’ support package enabled cultivation on nearly 1.96 million acres. He noted that Sindh operated the world’s largest irrigation system, with more than 4,000 kilometres of canals.
Discussing access and mobility, he said Sindh had a road network of about 57,000 kilometres, including 24,148 kilometres of newly constructed roads. He added that until 2008 there were only five bridges over the River Indus in Sindh, and that four additional bridges had since been built.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said public transport was virtually absent in the province before 2008, but PPP-led initiatives now facilitated daily travel for over 200,000 passengers, including through the introduction of electric buses.
He added that 202,000 workers had been registered under the Benazir Mazdoor Card programme.
On energy, he said Sindh had the potential to generate 50,000 megawatts of wind energy, alongside vast solar capacity. Currently, 1,845MW was being produced from wind projects. He said 200,000 solar home systems had already been provided to households, with another 275,000 homes set to be solarised.
He said Special Economic Zones and public-private partnerships were a defining feature of the Sindh government, noting that projects such as the Dhabeji Special Economic Zone had received international recognition. He cited the Thar coal project as a successful PPP model that contributed to national power generation while creating local employment, with 71% of jobs going to residents of Thar.
The PPP chairman also highlighted environmental gains, saying mangrove forest cover in Sindh had expanded from 270,000 acres to a record 675,000 acres.