Punjab presents Rs1.681 trillion budget for fiscal year 2016-17

Uplift budget will be more than Rs550b in which 142 new projects will be included, says Finance Minister Dr Ayesha

The Government of Punjab presented on Monday a budget of Rs1.681 trillion for fiscal year 2016-17 in the provincial assembly.

The development budget will be more than Rs550 billion in which 142 new projects will be included, provincial Finance Minister Dr Ayesha Ghaus Pasha said while presenting the budget.

“It has also been proposed in the budget to impose new taxes on 10 items and also impose taxes on 10 new services,” she said.

"Rs30 billion have been allocated for projects that are operating on foreign investments, Rs100 billion have been set aside for the Orange Line Metro Train project and roads whereas Rs150 billion have been allocated for the health sector, the minister added.



Dr Ayesha said, “For the power sector, the Punjab government has proposed to keep the budget at Rs18.4 billion. For Punjab Police, Rs94 billion has been set aside and Rs30 billion for the clean water programme,” she said.

In her budget speech, Dr Ayesha said, Rs50 billion is allocated for farmer’s package, Rs16 billion for urban development, Rs12 billion for the agriculture sector and Rs5 billion for the expansion of canal road in Lahore.

Meanwhile, lawmakers of the opposition parties continued to raise slogans during the budget speech besides tearing apart copies of the provincial budget.

Earlier, the finance minister had said that the provincial budget would provide relief to the poor. “In order to make the budgetary allocations more transparent, the amount of money reserved in discretionary funds will be decreased. The budget will contain measures to resolve the problems faced by small farmers. The government will facilitate businesses to increase exports.”