Punjab govt presents Rs3.2 trillion "tax-free" annual budget after 2-day delay

Lahore: Punjab government on Wednesday presented the provincial budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 with a total outlay of around Rs 3.2 trillion after a delay of two days as the treasury and opposition locked horns over the budget session.

Provincial minister Sardar Awais Leghari presented the provincial budget worth over Rs3.226 billion during a budget session held at Aiwan-e-Iqbal after the Punjab governor limited the powers of the Speaker Punjab Assembly to hold session in the PA's house.

According to the budget document, the government will increase the salaries and pensions of government employees by 15 percent with a 15% special allowance.

As per budget 2022-23, the employees will get 15 percent increase in basic pay and 15 percent disparity allowance. Rs435.87 billion have been allocated for salaries while the pensioners will get a 15% hike as the pension bill has been put at Rs312 billion.

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

Terming it a “pro-poor and pro-development budget”, the provincial minister said no new tax would be imposed in the budget while existing special concessions and incentives will continue.

He said Rs683.5bn have been allocated for development schemes, Rs56 billion for education, Rs173 billion for health 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.

Lagahri presented the budget proposals earlier approved by the cabinet, saying the policies of the PTI government stalled development in the province for the last three years.

“Data shows that during the period 2019-22, there has neither been a single development programme worth mentioning nor has the province witnessed any social welfare programme,” he said, blaming the PTI government for "wasting their three years in framing false cases" against the opposition. 

Recalling the last budget of the PML-N government for the fiscal year 2017-18, the provincial minister highlighted that at the time, the country’s GDP growth was rising at a steady pace and that the per capita income had reached $1,629. 

He said foreign investment was pouring in as Pakistan was declared an investment-safe country, the stock market was the second-best in Asia and international institutions were recognising Pakistan’s growth.

The provincial minister accused the PTI-led government of not paying attention to the energy issues which led to other issues including unemployment, poverty, inflation, etc.

The minister said out of the total amount of the budget, it had been proposed to keep Rs1,712 billion for running expenditures while the total outlay of the development budget is Rs685 billion.

The income has been estimated at Rs2.521 trillion the finance minister said, adding that the province is expected to receive over Rs2.020 trillion from the come from the federal divisible pool.

The minister said over Rs500 were expected to be collected under the head of provincial receipts that were more than 24% in comparison with last year’s collection.

Laghari said the government, aiming a 24% increase, has set the target of non-tax revenue at Rs163 billion.

He went on to add that under the chief minister’s relief package, Rs200 will be allocated for providing wheat at a cheaper rate to the masses. Laghari said that a 10kg wheat bag, which was earlier available at Rs650 could be bought at Rs490.

In addition to this, another relief package of Rs142 billion had been proposed, including the selling of edible items at a lower cost, subsidised transport costs, and other facilities for farmers.

Laghari said total outlet of the development budget was Rs685 billion out of which 40% would be spent on the social sector, 24% on infrastructure, 6% on production, 2% on the services sector, and 28% will be allocated for special measures.

The minister said the government had proposed 35% of the total Annual Development Program for South Punjab and allocated Rs240 billion for several development projects.