Frugal days: CM bars iftar, dinners at state expense

CM informed assembly members that a number of mega projects were being completed across the province at record pace.

LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Sunday directed government functionaries and cabinet ministers not to hold iftar parties and dinners at government expenditure in Ramazan in view of the displacement of the population from North Waziristan. Sharif said the government had presented a revolutionary budget for the next fiscal year that prioritised public welfare. He said Rs345 billion had been earmarked for developmental projects in the next fiscal. He said Rs119 billion out of that amount would be spent on initiatives in South Punjab, ushering in an era of prosperity there. The chief minister informed assembly members that a number of mega projects were being completed across the province at record pace. He said the promotion of investment, construction and industrialisation would overcome poverty and unemployment.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2014.