Punjab cabinet approves Rs700 billion budget

Cabinet approves Rs4 billion for laptop scheme, decides to distribute 125,000 laptops among students.

LAHORE: The Rs700 billion budget, which also proposes a 20 percent increase in government employees’ salaries, was approved by the Punjab cabinet during a meeting held at the Minar-e-Pakistan camp office on Saturday, Express News reported.

In the meeting presided by Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, proposals and required amounts were approved for the budget which will be presented later today.

According to sources, the Punjab budget will be “tax free” whereas Rs3 billion have been approved for the self-employment scheme in which interest-free loans will be provided.

The cabinet approved Rs4 billion for the laptop scheme and decided to distribute 125,000 laptops among students.

Also approved was the proposal to give 50,000 graduates Rs10,000 for four-month internships and a Rs2 billion allocation for  establishing a sports fund.

It was also decided that tax on cars up to 1000cc will be collected as lump sum.