Punjab Assembly passes budget sans Opposition

• Provincial finance minister moved Punjab Finance Bill 2021 which later govt passed amid empty Opposition benches.
• Punjab budget was marred by uncertainties and was presented on June 15 after considerable delay.
• Laghari termed budget for FY23 a “pro-poor and pro-development budget”.

LAHORE: The provincial government passed, amid the absence of the Opposition, its budget of Rs3.226 trillion for the financial year 2022-23 in the Punjab Assembly on Wednesday.

Punjab Finance Minister Awais Laghari moved the Punjab Finance Bill 2021 which later the government passed amid empty Opposition benches. Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz was also present in the house.

The Punjab budget was marred by uncertainties and was presented on June 15 after considerable delay and at a different venue than the conventional one as the treasury and Opposition benches failed to reach a consensus over convening a session.

Laghari had unveiled the provincial budget for the fiscal year 2022-23, terming it a “pro-poor and pro-development budget”.

Details of budget

• Rs1,712 billion have been kept for running expenditures
• The total outlay of the development budget is Rs685 billion
• Province is expected to receive over Rs2.020 trillion from the federal divisible pool
• Over Rs500 billion are expected to be collected under the head of provincial receipts
• Under the chief minister’s relief package, Rs200 billion will be allocated for providing wheat at a cheaper rate
• Another relief package worth Rs142 billion has been proposed, including the selling of edible items at a lower cost, subsidised transport costs, and other facilities for farmers.
• For the health sector, Rs470 billion have been allocated
• Rs485.26 billion have been allocated to the education sector
• Rs428.56 billion have been kept for the non-development budget
• For the development budget, Rs56.70 billion has been kept aside
• Govt has decided to increase the salaries of government employees by 15% and pensions by 5%