Punjab cabinet approves Rs3 trillion annual budget

Lahore: The provincial cabinet on Monday approved Rs 3 trillion annual budget for the financial year 2022-23 besides approving annual development funds. 

A meeting was held under the chair of Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz here, the cabinet approved a financial bill for 2022-23 with approval of revised estimates for 2021-22.

The provincial cabinet has approved a 15pc increase in the salaries and pensions of government employees and a 15% special allowance.

According to details, the employees will get 15 percent increase in basic pay and 15 percent disparity allowance.

However, the disparity allowance will be limited to selected departments of the provincial government.

Provincial minister Awais Leghari will present Punjab’s budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 today (Monday) with a total outlay of around Rs 3 trillion.

According to sources, no new tax will be imposed in the budget while existing special concessions and incentives will continue.

Moreover, Rs683.5bn has been proposed for development schemes, Rs56 billion for education sector, Rs173 billion for the health sector and 11.95bn will be given to the ‘Saaf Pani’ project.

Punjab has allocated Rs6.2 billion for governance and IT, Rs500 million for labour and HR development, Rs6.3 billion for transport and Rs1.8 billion for emergency service (1122), according to official documents.