PESHAWAR: Advisor to the Chief Minister for Finance Muzzammil Aslam said on Thursday the provincial budget being unveiled today (Friday) would be higher in volume compared to the past and have lower taxes.
Talking to the Geo News, he said the previous budget was put at Rs 1,450 billion while the one being unveiled today would be 16 percent higher than that, nearing almost Rs 1700 billion.
The adviser defended the move to present the KP budget two weeks ahead of the federal one and said this should be a source of happiness, not surprise.
Muzzammil Aslam said the fiscal document would be surplus. Work had been done on revenue mobilization and provincial taxes in the budget, he said, adding, the rates of taxes had been cut but the bases expanded to cover more sectors.
The adviser said the budget being presented would have 15 percent greater allocation for the health sector. “The development expenditure has been increased from 40 to 50 percent as well,” he pointed out.
He said interest-free loans would be disbursed under “Ehsas Hunar Progarmme” while “ Ehsas Rozgar” and “ Ehsas Jawan” programmes would be launched as in KP. About the Bus Rapid Transit service of Peshawar, the adviser said that its fares would be “rationalized” while a Rs 3 billion plan had been apportioned for this service as well.
The advisor said comprehensive joint budget review meetings were held with almost line departments to ensure that government policies and priorities effectively translated into the budget.