| GEO Business | | KP to unveil first post-NFC budget today | Updated at: 0937 PST, Saturday, June 12, 2010
 PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Finance Muhammad Humayun Khan will present first post-NFC award budget today for the fiscal 2010-11 with an annual development outlay of over Rs50 billion.
The budget will be presented at 4pm at the provincial assembly where elaborate security measures have been taken for the special session.
In an interview to The News, PPP’s Humayun Khan said the third budget of the Awami National Party-led coalition government would carry an annual development programme (ADP) of over Rs50 billion against the previous development outlay of Rs32 billion.
Rahimdad Khan, provincial senior minister who had also presented the previous budget in the provincial assembly, told this scribe that the focus again would be on 70 percent ongoing schemes as completion of projects was essential for the development of the province.
Under the recently-announced National Finance Commission Award, the province would get Rs160 billion. The budget outlay may carry the tentative revenue receipts of over Rs270 billion from federal tax assignment, the General Sales Tax, straight transfers from the federal government, GST on Services (provincial), special grants, provincial own receipts and profit from hydel power generation.
The annual development plan may not include any mega water and power project as the province could get only Rs402.5 million from the federal government for the Rs62 billion Chashma Right Lift Canal Irrigation Scheme.
However, the province has planned to complete about 11 ongoing projects of multi-purpose small dams and irrigation schemes wherein it will also utilise Rs25 billion it expects to get in July as second installment of arrears of the net hydel profit on hydropower generation.
The mega project outlined to develop the provincial metropolis has also been made part of the budget, while allocations have been set aside for health units and dispensaries, roads and schools.
New universities and colleges have also got allocations in the budget, while following in the footsteps of the federal government, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has to raise the basic salaries of the government servants by 50 percent.
The provincial budget, as promised by various ministers, would not carry any new tax, but an upward revision of taxes is expected in the budget. The provincial government is presenting the budget at a time when the province needs a huge amount to rebuild the infrastructure destroyed due to terrorism.
However, it will receive only one percent subvention from the divisible pool as financial support from the federal government to offset the effects of militancy that affected every sphere of life in the province. |  |
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