Punjab caretakers present tax-free budget

LAHORE: The Punjab caretaker government Monday approved Rs1,719.3 billion outlay tax-free budget for four months, July to October, for the fiscal year 2023-24.

Government employees’ salaries were increased by 30pc, pension by 5pc, and pension of above 80-year retirees was increased by 20pc.

The caretakers allocated Rs721.9 billion for current expenditures, Rs325 billion for development, Rs395.2 billion for the food account (disbursement of loans for procurement of wheat) and Rs277.2 billion for capital expenditures.

The provincial government is expecting Rs1,514.4 billion receipts in the first four months from different sources including federal divisible pool and provincial revenue receipts.

The government set Rs579 billion revenue target for the fiscal year 2023-24, out of which Rs393 billion were expected from the provincial revenue receipts and Rs186 billion from non-tax revenue. The government allocated Rs116 billion for pension payments.

Addressing a press conference, Punjab Caretaker Information Minister Amir Mir, Industry Minister SM Tanveer and Secretary Finance Mujhaid Sherdil said the caretaker setup approved the estimated expenditure for four months under Article 146 of the Constitution.

The total four-month expenditures were estimated at Rs1,719.3 billion, of which Rs881 billion would be received from the federal divisible pool and Rs194 billion from the provincial revenue receipts.

The ministers claimed that education and health budget was increased by 31pc, and 30pc ad hoc increase was given in the salaries of the government employees. All provincial taxes had been abolished on the IT industry, and Rs1 billion endowment fund had been established for the journalist community. The ministers also announced Rs70 billion allocation for social welfare and protection, and Rs120.4 billion for provision of services.

In the four-month budget, the government maintained one per cent stamp duty rate, against the proposed three per cent. The capital investment of Rs16.4 billion approved for the Punjab Thermal Power Company Limited would be made in the next two months, while Rs47.6 billion were approved for development of the agricultural sector, and Rs10 billion were earmarked for the IT sector.

The finance secretary said that block allocation was made in the budget to control inflation. Apart from this, the Punjab government also started the process of repaying loans of Rs600 billion, taken from banks for wheat procurement. The loan would be retired in four months. The provincial exchequer was facing a daily burden of Rs250 million mark-up on wheat business, he added.

Explaining the increase in pension by 5pc for the age group of 60 to 80 years, and 20pc in the pension of retirees above 80 years, the finance secretary said the salary of the employees, who retired earlier, was stopped from the day of their retirement. After which the departments concerned used to avail a period of one to two-and-a-half years for preparation of pension documents. During this period, they used to get salary and not pension. But today, the Punjab finance department issued a notification with the approval of the Punjab government, after which the retired employees would continue to receive 65 per cent of the salary till one year after their retirement.

The finance secretary also explained that the expenses of the election are the responsibility of the federal government. The provincial government would provide funds for the security expenses in the general election.

Further, the caretaker government was formed by the Election Commission of Pakistan and election would be held when the commission would announce date for it. Till that date, the caretaker government would continue performing its duties, added the ministers.

Earlier, Caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi presided over the 17th cabinet meeting at the civil secretariat on Monday and approved the tax-free budget for four months of the fiscal year 2023-24. The cabinet sanctioned a 30pc salary increase for all the Punjab government employees, which would be given as ad hoc relief. Furthermore, the retirees above the age of 80 would receive 20pc increase in their pensions.

The cabinet also resolved to complete 50pc work on ongoing development projects during this period. Out of 4,800 ongoing development schemes in Punjab, 2,500 would be completed in the next four months.

Approval was granted for Rs16 billion to operationalise a non-functional power plant in Trimmu area of Jhang, which had been non-functional since 2017. The establishment of an IT Park in Lahore Knowledge Park and an endowment fund of Rs1 billion for journalists were also approved during the meeting.