Sindh budget to be announced today

Deficit of around Rs22 billion expected from current allocation

KARACHI: The Sindh government will present its deficit budget with a total outlay of Rs1.14 trillion for fiscal year 2018-19 today (Thursday). Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, who also holds the portfolio of the finance department, will present the budget at around 3pm.

According to official sources, there will be a deficit of around Rs22 billion in the budget, which will be approved by the Cabinet before it is presented in the Sindh Assembly.

"Around Rs282 billion has been allocated for the Annual Development Programme as compared to Rs274 billion in the current fiscal year," a senior official in the finance department revealed, adding that Rs30 billion has been allocated for district packages and Rs50 billion for new schemes.



Sources said that although the government has mainly focused on ongoing projects, it has enhanced the education development budget from Rs21 billion to Rs26 billion. The current development budget of the works and services department is Rs26 billion, but now the government has proposed Rs30 billion in the next fiscal year.

Similarly, the government has increased the budget of the public health and engineering department from Rs6 billion to Rs9 billion.

"The health department was allocated Rs12 billion in 2017-18, but now the government has increased it by Rs1 billion and allocated Rs13 billion for the health sector," sources said.

According to the budget books, the government has estimated Rs120 billion in recovery from the sales tax on services and expects to receive Rs665 billion from the federal divisible pool. In this outgoing year, the government had estimated Rs627 billion from the divisible pool and the CM, on various occasions, has criticised the federal government for not releasing complete funds. "The government will not announce new schemes in this budget, but Rs50 billion has been kept as block allocation under which the new government could initiate schemes after the general election," the official said.



Sources said that government employees' salaries will be increased by 12 to 15% in the upcoming budget.

The CM has already announced that the upcoming budget will cover three months and the new government will add more projects and schemes to it. "We will present the budget for a three-month period up to September 30 and not for the full financial year," he said.



"The next elected government will have to get the budget for the following nine months approved from the provincial assembly," the CM said while speaking to the media.

Opposition parties, however, have decided to protest in the Assembly session if the budget is not 'people-friendly'.

"In the last five years, the government has looted and plundered [Sindh]. Hardly 50% of the development budget of the current fiscal year has been utilised. We will protest if the government fails to provide relief to the people," opposition leader Khawaja Izharul Hasan told the media.