Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah chaired a joint meeting of the Finance and Planning & Development (P&D) departments on Wednesday to finalise proposals for the upcoming fiscal year’s budget.
The meeting, held on a public holiday, was attended by Minister for Planning and Development Nasir Hussain Shah, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Principal Secretary Agha Wasif, Finance Secretary Fayaz Jatoi, and senior officials.
“The meeting of P&D and Finance departments has been called on a holiday today,” Murad noted, adding that the aim was to finalise the next financial year’s budget at the earliest.
“I want most of the proposals to be finalised before Eid,” he said, stressing that the budget should serve the public interest.
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Nasir informed the meeting that of the 4,644 ongoing development schemes, 1,812 were expected to be completed this year. The chief minister instructed that funds for these near-complete projects be released without delay.
New development schemes have also been proposed by departments, with a significant number originating from local-level initiatives, according to the planning minister.
“Shortlist the proposals for new schemes and present them in the next meeting,” the chief minister directed.
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“We will review funds separately in a separate meeting and finalise new schemes,” he added.
Highlighting past performance, Murad noted, “In the fiscal year 2023-24, the Sindh government launched 1,937 new schemes worth 88.3 billion rupees.”
“Most of the 1,937 schemes will now be completed,” he said, adding that provincial revenue figures for the new fiscal year will become clear in the first week of June.
Last week, the federal government assigned the Sindh government the responsibility to establish urology and kidney hospitals in Rawalpindi and Rahim Yar Khan.
During a cabinet meeting held at the chief minister’s house, Murad informed the cabinet that Rs9 billion had been approved by the centre.
The funding covered the establishment of Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplant (SIUT) facilities in both cities, the reconstruction of flood-affected homes in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the creation of new SZABIST and IBA campuses.
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