Pakistan

Budget briefing: ‘South Punjab will once again get 36 per cent allocations’

Development funds used so far are 60 per cent of budget allocation: Mujtaba.

Our Correspondent May 15, 2015

Provincial Finance Minister of Punjab Mujtaba Shujaur Rahman. PHOTO: RIAZ AHMED/EXPRESS/FILE

LAHORE: Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rahman said on Friday that like the outgoing fiscal year budget allocations for southern Punjab districts in the upcoming year would also be 36 per cent of the total allocations.

He was addressing a pre-session media briefing at the Punjab Assembly.

Rahman said the provincial budget would be presented during the assembly session scheduled to begin on June 10. He said the federal budget was scheduled to be announced on June 5.

He said the government had so far used 60 per cent of the development budget for the on-going fiscal year. “We expect to utilise up to 75 or 80 per cent of the budget by the end of the fiscal year,” he said.

Rahman said allocations for southern Punjab districts would be finalised in consideration of their needs and population. He said the budget would include allocations for local elections and the Orange Line Metro Train project for Lahore. He added that the government was also considering the possibility of seeking a loan from China to fund the mass transit project.

Rahman said a summary requesting a raise in the salaries of lawmakers had been sent to the chief minister for approval. He said the provincial lawmakers were currently getting the same salary as Grade IV government officials. He said he believed the lawmakers’ salaries should be revised every year.

Rahman said the assembly session would continue for 10 days to complete the 100-day requirement for a parliamentary year.

He said the assembly had met for six sessions in 2014-2015 and passed 36 bills. He added that the number of bills passed in 2014-15 was already the highest during any parliamentary year in the assembly’s history. “Three ordinances are expected to be passed by the assembly during the current session. This will raise the number of bills passed in the year to 39,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2015.