Fiscal year 2012-13: Rs260b expected as next year’s ADP

An out-of-budget Rs6 billion supplementary grant also released.

LAHORE:

The Punjab government is likely to present its biggest Annual Development Programme (ADP) of over Rs260 billion for the fiscal year 2012-13. The focus will be on uplift of the living standards, The Express Tribune has learnt.

An official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that as of mid May, Rs120 billion of the present ADP of Rs220 billion had been used (the current fiscal year end on June 30).  He said 20,000 unemployed youth would be provided jobs.

The official said Finance Minister Rana Asif Mehmood would present the budget on June 9.

The official said Rs3 billion was likely to be allocated for the provision of public transport. As many as 1,000 buses would be provided for urban transport, he added. The government planned to allocate Rs4 billion for the distribution of 100,000 laptops among students.

The government allocated Rs220 billion of its ADP for the current fiscal year to complete and execute 1,904 ongoing and new development schemes. The Finance Department had released Rs165 billion till mid of May on the requests of executing agencies but ‘utilisation’ was reported at Rs120 million. The ADP utilisation is expected not to exceed Rs150 billion.

For 80 per cent of its revenue Punjab depends on its share from the divisible pool of federal taxes under the National Finance Commission (NFC) award. The remaining 20 per cent is generated from indigenous resources. The share for fiscal year 2011-12 was calculated at Rs530 billion and by mid May the Punjab government had received Rs400 billion.

The Finance Department on the instructions of the chief minister released an out of budget Rs6 billion as a supplementary grant, the official added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2012.