Sindh Finance Minister speaks during post-budget press conference. PHOTO: EXPRESS
Terming NAB actions illegal, the finance minister said that bureau was conducting raids “just to earn commissions” through plea bargains and voluntarily returns. “Most bureaucrats were paralysed by the fear of being arrested for no reasons at all. That is why they did not finalise development schemes in a timely manner, creating hindrances in development work,” he said in response to a question on government inefficiency to utilise Rs162 billion allocated for development projects.
Shah also acknowledged that there was a capacity problem of government officials who “are not so trained to release funds on time.”
“Courts had also directed us not initiate development work because of local government elections. This also created hurdles,” Shah said.
Briefing reporters about salient features of Sindh’s budget, the minister said that the total receipts of the province were estimated at Rs854.5 billion and there was a deficit of Rs14 billion in the budget.
“We have estimated to receive Rs561 billion from the federal government and the rest of the amount will be managed by Sindh government and donor agencies and banks,” he said.
He said the provincial government intended to recover Rs78 billion in sales tax on services, Rs76 billion from other provincial taxes in addition to raising Rs12 billion from provincial non-tax receipts.
Shah also criticised the federal government for not releasing Sindh government’s share on time.
“In current fiscal year, our share in the federal divisible pool stands at Rs494 billion, but the federal government has so far released Rs382 billion,” he said, adding that the federal government still owed Rs112 billion.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 13th, 2016.
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