Awais Leghari unveils Rs3.226trn Punjab budget after long delay

LAHORE: At last, Punjab’s budget was unveiled by Finance Minister Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari at ‘Aiwane-e-Iqbal’, not at the constitutional and traditional venue, which is the Punjab Assembly building, as the deadlock between the treasury and opposition benches had refused to die when Speaker Pervaiz Ilahi did not allow the provincial government to present the budget in the House and demanded an apology from IG Police over cases lodged against the PTI and PML-Q.

Leghari on Wednesday presented the budget of Rs3.226 trillion for the fiscal year 2022-23.

Read more: Punjab budget 2022-23: Deadlock between govt & opposition intact

He said over Rs500bn are expected to be collected under the head of provincial receipts — more than 24% in comparison with last year’s collection. The minister said the government, aiming for a 24% increase, has set the target of non-tax revenue at Rs163 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.

He also announced that the provincial government has proposed an increase of 15% in the salaries of government employees and a rise of 5% in pensions.

Leghari further said the allocation of Rs over Rs435 billion has been proposed for the provision of salaries and Rs312 billion for the payment of pensions of the employees in the financial year 2022-23.

Rs528 billion are earmarked or the local bodies in the upcoming financial year.

He a said Rs200 billion have been proposed for the provision of flour at cheap rates in the province.

The 10kg flour sack will be available at Rs490 instead of Rs650, he added.

The development budget with an increase of 22pc has been proposed at Rs685 billion in the FY2022-23, while Rs35 billion have been proposed for the construction and repair of the roads.

The annual development budget of South Punjab has been proposed at Rs240 billion, Leghari said.

Rs125.34 billion have been proposed for health and Rs.485.26 billion for education whereas Rs59.7 billion for higher education in the budget, maintained Leghari.

The provincial government has earmarked Rs53.19bn for Agriculture in the next financial year.

However, the minister lambasted the PTI regime during his speech, adding that 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 accused the Buzdar government of ignoring energy issues which caused to other issues including unemployment, poverty and inflation.