LAHORE: Provincial Minister for Finance Hashim Jawan Bakht on Monday presented the Punjab Budget 2021-22 in the provincial assembly with a total outlay of Rs2.653 trillion.
Speaking on the provincial Assembly floor, the minister said the budget of Punjab would be the guarantor of development and prosperity. “Even the developed countries were helpless due to COVID-19 but PTI government provided relief to the poor people during pandemic,” he added.
He specially thanked Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar for his efforts in the development programme. “We couldn’t have done this if it wasn’t without the support of Usman Buzdar,” he asserted.
“In PTI’s regime, we focused mainly on the economic policy and controlled spending to make way for new schemes. The Pakistan Economic Survey (PES) 2021 proposed GDP growth rate at 3.94%, an estimate above the one made by the International Monetary Fund,” said the Minister.
Jawan Bakht announced that the provincial government has increased the education budget by 13 percent from last year and has allocated Rs442billion for the sector with a programme which includes establishing seven new universities in the province.
Universal Health Coverage for the entire population of Punjab was given an allocation of Rs 80 billion. Every individual in Punjab would be covered in this programme and an estimated 1 billion people would be registered by December 2021.
All Punjab government employees will get a 10 percent increase in their salary and pensions. He announced a special 25 percent allowance for “financially distressed employees”.
The minister also announced allocation of Rs196billion for development projects in South Punjab, which amounts to about 34 percent of the province’s Annual Development Programme (ADP).
Jawan Bakht announced that during FY 2021-22, the Punjab government will spend over Rs200 billion for the social sector, Rs145 billion for infrastructure development, over Rs55 billion for production sectors including agriculture, industry, tourism, wildlife, fisheries, forest, and more than Rs90 billion for special programmes.
He also announced allocation of over Rs28 billion for the mega projects in the province’s capital Lahore, including the establishment of a new 1000-bed modern hospital in the city, a surface water treatment plant, underpasses, and flyover projects.
Punjab Cabinet
The Punjab government approved the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2021-22 with an estimated total budget outlay of Rs2.653 trillion, including an Annual Development Programme (ADP) worth Rs560 billion.
The Punjab Cabinet also approved the much-anticipated 10% increase in salaries and pension of provincial employees and also greenlighted the decision to increase the minimum wage of workers from Rs17,500 to Rs20,000.
In the cabinet meeting, the Board of Revenue proposed to increase the agricultural tax. However, the Chief Minister of Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar and the Punjab Cabinet unanimously rejected the suggestion.
“The proposed budget has measures to give relief to the common man,” CM Buzdar. “All targets are realistic and all priorities have been set in accordance with the needs of the masses,” he said, adding that the budget is not a “magic of statistics” but is a document based on development.
