CM presents Rs213.164b additional budget

KARACHI:

Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Thursday presented a supplementary budget of Rs213.164 billion without facing any criticism from the opposition in the Sindh Assembly.

The assembly will approve
the budget and finance bill
for the next financial year on Friday (today).

Shah said, the government is committed to serve the people and will try its best to come up to the expectations of the people. "We will complete most of the development schemes in the province during the next financial year. Karachi is also my city, and its development is important to us. We are trying to solve the city's water and other basic problems."

He further mentioned that the heirs of the people killed in street crimes would be given a compensation of Rs1 million each.

The Sindh government is expanding its tax net, but it will not affect the poor. Schools with an annual income through fees of over Rs500,000 will come into tax net. Private schools with a monthly fee collection of over Rs42,000 will have to pay tax. The tax collected from private schools will be spent on the education department.

Moreover, private hospitals with a daily bed fee of over Rs25,000 will also have to pay tax. Doctors who charge over Rs3,000 as consultation fees will also have to pay tax.

The CM highlighted the priorities of the Sindh government, future projects, and the economic, political, and social situation of the province. He said that he is accountable to the people of Sindh and this assembly, not to the media.

The chief minister claimed that they have completed 3,580 projects in the past five years, while the federal government has not initiated a single project in Sindh during a period from 2018 to 2022. The National Highway Authority has built roads across Pakistan but not in Sindh, the CM concluded.