AJK Finance Minister asked banks to introduce small loan schemes. DESIGN: SAMRA AMIR
The Azad Kashmir government has sought an increase in Mangla Dam royalty.
AJK Finance Minister Chaudhry Latif Akbar on Friday asked the federal government to give 45 per cent royalty to Azad Jammu and Kashmir as it provides to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Addressing the post-budget news conference, the finance minster said if the federal government accepts our demand then we would be in a position to present surplus budget.
He said Kashmir Council is not paying the share of taxes worth Rs1.50 billion to the AJK government.
Akbar said the AJK government will announce a monetary policy for banks to facilitate the people who have more than Rs200 billion deposits in their branches across the disputed state.
The minister asked the banks to introduce a scheme of small loans aimed at making the remote areas people economically sound and stable.
Responding to a question the minister said the state government was committed to reducing the non-developmental expenditures. However, he clarified that 80 per cent of the non-developmental budget is spent on salaries and perks of government employees.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2013.
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How "Azad" is AJK ? Just on paper !!!!!
I am from AJK and I say, don't give a penny until the AJK government can change their spending habits. More on development and reducing non-developmental expenditure to not more than 15-20% of total budget. Otherwise all this money will be wasted on vehicles, trips and more bureaucracy.