Sindh budget to be announced today

Rs1 trillion budget includes increases in allocation for health, education and police depts

KARACHI: The Sindh government is all set to unveil its budget today (Monday). Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, who also holds the portfolio of the finance department, will present the more than Rs1 trillion budget in the Sindh Assembly at 3pm.

In the current fiscal year the total allocation is of Rs869 billion. According to officials, the government has allocated around Rs275 billion for its upcoming Annual Development Programme (ADP), compared to Rs225 billion in the current year, which will end on June 30. “In the outgoing year [2016-17] we have allocated Rs200 billion for the provincial ADP and Rs25 billion for the districts.

Now the government is going to earmark around Rs245 billion for the annual development portfolio with Rs30 billion for districts,” an official in the finance department revealed. He added that before the budget is announced, a cabinet meeting will be chaired by the chief minister in order to approve the proposals.



According to the official, around 40,000 to 50,000 jobs will be created in the 2017-18 budget, which coincidentally is also an election year.

“Around 6,000 doctors will be appointed and the jobs of 24,000 lady health workers will be regularised,” sources revealed, adding that many jobs will be created in the education, police, revenue, irrigation and works and services departments. Though the government has spent barely 50% of its funds allocated in the current year, Shah recently told the media that education, health, law and order and energy will be the top priorities of his government in the upcoming budget.

In the education department, which includes primary and higher education, the government allocated Rs13 billion in 2016-17 but now more than Rs11 billion has been earmarked for schools education alone for the upcoming year.



Meanwhile, the health budget in 2016-17 was Rs14 billion but the government has proposed a Rs15.5 billion allocation for the department in the upcoming budget. For the police, the government has increased the budget by around 35%. “Last year, the police department’s total budget was Rs72 billion and this year Rs96 billion has been proposed,” sources said. “We are attaching importance to ongoing projects rather than introducing news schemes,” said the CM.