KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah presented his maiden Rs 1,043.185 billion deficit budget for fiscal year 2017-18 in Sindh Assembly amid clapping by the treasury benches.
The chief minister in his speech said that the federal government was the major contributor to Sindh’s finances, comprising 75 percent in its entirety. He added that these shares inevitably “fall short of the estimates we provide every year”. “As a result, there was ambivalence and inconsistency in achieving our outlined targets.”
Murad Ali Shah, giving budget estimates, said that the total receipts for fiscal 2017-18 were estimated at Rs 1.02 trillion against an estimated expenditure of Rs 1.04 trillion. Receipt estimates reflect an increase of 19.3 percent over budget estimates of Rs 854.5 billion for the current financial year, he said. “Receipts from the federal government on account of revenue assignment, straight transfer and grants are estimated at Rs 627.3 billion. Receipts from the federal government are 61.5 percent of the total receipts of the province.”
He said that the receipts of federal PSDP were estimated at Rs 27.3 billion. “Receipts on account of Foreign Project Assistance (FPA), budgetary support loans and grants are estimated at Rs 42.7 billion. Receipts from province’s own sources, including tax and non-tax receipts, are estimated at Rs 199 billion. The targets of province’s own sources have been increased by 16.5 percent.”
On the expenditure side, he said the outlay of budget was estimated at Rs 1.04 trillion against budget estimate of Rs 869.11 billion, reflecting an increase of 19.6 percent. The current expenditure, including current revenue expenditure of Rs 666.47 billion and current capital expenditure of Rs 32.64 billion, stands at Rs 699.11 billion, he said. He pointed out that for the next financial year, current expenditure constituted 68.2 percent of the total provincial budget, reflecting an increase of 14 percent over estimates of Rs 572.7 billion. Talking about the estimates of development expenditure for financial year 2017-18, the chief minister said they were pitched at Rs 274 billion.
Murad Ali Shah said that during the PPP government’s tenure, appointments were made on the basis of need while ensuring meritocracy. For the next financial year, “we have created around 49,000 posts”, he announced. “Over 25,000 employees of Lady Health Workers Programme will be incorporated in service of Sindh. Besides, 10,000 personnel would be recruited in Sindh Police.”
Murad Ali Shah said that his government had allocated the highest percentage of resources towards education in the year 2017-18. He proposed to enhance the budget for education to Rs 202.2 billion from Rs 163.12 billion. Grants for universities and education institutions have been kept at Rs 5 billion.
He said his government had also given top priority to law and order. In terms of resource allocation, the share of Home Department, including police, jails, Rangers and other LEAs, is the second largest, he said. “Budgetary allocation for [law and order in] next financial year is proposed at Rs 92.91 billion, which reflects an increase of 10 percent over allocation of Rs 84.26 billion during the current financial year.” He said that 10,000 new posts of different ranks were proposed for Sindh Police. He said that Rs 2 billion had been allocated for purchase of transport for Sindh Police.
“A forensic lab will be established with Rs 2.6 billion to solve complex crimes. [An amount of] Rs 280 million has been allocated for establishment of an intelligence school and data centre for the police. Some 3,000 posts are proposed for security of CPEC-related projects. [Moreover,] 1,000 more personnel would be inducted in the Special Security Unit (SSU) to enhance its capacity.”
Local governments: The chief minister said that during the current financial year, Rs 60 billion had been earmarked for local councils in Sindh. “For the next financial year, we propose an allocation of Rs 71 billion, including Rs 5 billion for development schemes to be undertaken by local councils. Distribution mechanism amongst local councils would be determined by the Provincial Finance Commission, which has started its deliberation on a resource-sharing formula.”
He said that another important proposal being considered was devolution of collection of urban immovable property tax. “The devolution of collection of taxes at the appropriate levels increases efficiency and transparency. At present, the collection of Rs 2 billion in lieu of urban immovable property tax is dismally low and has a huge potential.” He said that two districts of Karachi had been contracted out for collection and disposal of solid waste for Rs 1.25 billion.
Murad Ali Shah said that the government had allocated Rs 5.5 billion for Sindh Solid Waste Management Board, which was in addition to Rs 71 billion earmarked for local councils.
Talking about the Greater Karachi Water Supply Project (K-IV) and Greater Karachi Sewerage Project (S-III), the chief minister said they were extremely important projects for development of Karachi. “The federal government has committed Rs 9.95 billion for the project. The Sindh government will provide Rs 6.4 billion for timely completion of the project. Similarly, for S-III, the government has allocated an amount of Rs 1.5 billion.”
In his speech, the CM also noted that the Karachi Circular Railway, costing $2.4 billion, had been included in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and that the Sindh government was “thankful to the federal government for extending its support for construction of the Green Line BRTS”.
