KARACHI – Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah unveiled Rs1.04 trillion budget for next fiscal year 2017-18 on Monday.
Shah, who also holds the portfolio of minister for finance, delivered the budget speech at around 3pm after Sindh cabinet approved budgetary estimates for the upcoming financial year and revised budget for the outgoing fiscal year 2016-17.
In his budget speech, Shah stated that the budget for the financial year 2017-18 reflects a 19.3 per cent increase over the 2016-17 budget.
According to Shah, education will get the largest chunk of the budget in the upcoming fiscal year than ever before. He said nearly 49,000 jobs have been created for the next financial year.
Murad also said the government would not be introducing any new tax for the fiscal year.
Receipts from the province’s own sources including tax and non-tax receipts are estimated at Rs199 billion, the chief minister said.
For the next financial year, the target of Sindh Revenue Board is being enhanced to Rs100bn as per the Sindh Tax Resource Mobilisation Plan.
Education
Education’s got the lion’s share of Sindh budget 2017-18, as Rs202 billion have been set aside for this sector.
A sum of Rs5b will be spent on new and existing universities and colleges in the province.
Rs1.5b will be given to girl students in scholarships.
School management committees will be provided Rs1b for improving the quality of education.
Rs8b from the education budget will go to the Sindh Education Foundation, while a ‘reward system’, which will grant Rs100,000 to every student who achieves A-1 grade in Intermediate and Matriculation exams, shall also be introduced.
Health
A total of Rs100 billion has been allocated for health sector.
2.40 billion has been set aside for Lady Health Workers.
Over 25,000 employees of Lady Health Workers program will be incorporated in service of Sindh.
Taxes
A sum of 199 billion will be collected from taxes in next financial year.
Development and Infrastructure
Development expenditure for fiscal 2017-18 has been set at Rs274bn.
CM Shah stated that the share of road infrastructure in the Annual Development Programme will be increased from Rs15.54bn to Rs25.77bn for 2017-18. A further 5bn has been allocated for the repair of roads, he said.
Among major developmental projects, Karachi-Thatta Dual Carriageway is to be completed by the end of this calendar year at the cost of Rs8.85bn, the CM said.
Shah also stated that Rs5.5bn have been allocated for solid waste management while Rs71bn will go to local councils.
The provincial government has also allocated Rs6.4bn to the Greater Karachi Water Supply Project (K-IV) in addition to the allocation made by the federal government. A further Rs1.5bn will go to the Greater Karachi Sewage Treatment Project, commonly known as the S-III project.
Salaries and Pensions
A 10% raise has been proposed in the salaries and pensions of provincial government employees.
Law & Order
Rs92.91 billion have been allocated for law and order in the province.
10,000 new cops will join Sindh Police.
Rs280 million will be spent on Police intelligence and data centres.
CPEC
3,000 new personnel will be hired for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) security.
