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Sunday, June 13, 2010
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa presents Rs 294bn budget with zero deficit
* New budget 40% higher than 2009-10 budget, balances revenue and expenditures
* Rs 9.4 billion set aside for health and education, Rs 21 billion for policeBy Zakir Hassnain
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Finance Muhammad Hamayun Khan presented the Rs 294 billion budget for fiscal year 2010-11 in the provincial assembly on Saturday.
“It is worth 40 percent more than the [outgoing year’s] budget,” said Humayun during the budget speech.
The minister termed the budget a balanced one as the total estimated revenue is Rs 294.2 billion while the total estimated expenditure also amounts to Rs 294.2 billion.
In his budget speech, Hamayun said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would receive Rs 123.4 billion as its share from federal taxes, Rs 9.4 billon from oil and gas royalties and Rs 6 billion as hydel generation profits. The minister added that the province was expected to get Rs 25 billion in July 2010 as net hydel profit arrears.
The minister said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is also expected to receive Rs 15.2 billion as a special grant for the war against terrorism, Rs 7.2 billion from the province’s own receipts, Rs 842 million from the Malakand-III hydel power project, Rs 12.3 billion from general sales tax on services, Rs 400 million from general capital receipts, Rs 9.3 billion in foreign aid, and Rs 85.9 billion under the head of food trading.
The finance minister said that out of an estimated expenditure of Rs 294.2 billion, the government had allocated Rs 127.9 billion for current expenditures, including Rs 9.4 billion for health and education, Rs 21 billion for the police, Rs 11 billion for payment of pensions, and Rs 51.9 billion for district salaries and other expenditures. The minister said that Rs 2.5 billion had been earmarked for wheat subsidy, Rs 16.6 billion for the salaries of other departments, Rs 9.6 billion for the payment of loans and Rs 60 billion had been allocated for development expenditures.
Hamayun said arrangements would be made to provide quality education through 27,419 schools during the next fiscal year, and 604 teachers’ positions would be created in new schools.
The minister said the government will launch the Benazir Health Support Programme to provide free treatment to hepatitis patients, for which Rs 500 million had initially been allocated.
Presenting the supplementary budget for fiscal year 2009-10, Hamayun said the total outlay of the supplementary budget was Rs 35.530 billion. He said the deteriorating law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, huge recruitments in the police department and the purchase of equipment for the police, an increase in salaries, and the internally displaced persons were major reasons for the increase in expenditure during the outgoing fiscal.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk