AJK govt approves Rs108 bn budget

ISLAMABAD: The AJK government on Sunday approved the budget for the fiscal year 2018-19 by approving all demands for grants amounting to over Rs 108 billion. The house also approved revised estimates for the fiscal year 2017-18 to the tune of over Rs 96 billion.

Earlier, members both from government and opposition benches took part in general debate on budget proposals for the fiscal year 2018-19. Concluding the debate, Finance Minister Dr Najeeb Naqi thanked the members for active participation in the budget debate and assured them of full support.

He said the government allocated 25 billion rupees for the development sector for the speedy development of the state. Focus had been given on ongoing projects, particularly road infrastructure on which over 10 billion rupees would be spent. Out of a total development outlay, 71pc allocated for ongoing while only 29 per cent for new 201 projects.

The minister said 41 per cent of the development budget had been allocated for communication while about 60pc for other sectors. He thanked the federal government for delegating financial autonomy to the AJK government and said “we will utilize and spend our resources in a transparent way”. Now the AJK government will not seek prior approval for creating vacancies and its spending in various sectors.

He informed the house that water user charges of the state had been enhanced from 15 pesa to one rupee ten pesa. Moreover, earlier the AJK Government had to receive 11 billion rupees in PSDP which had now been raised to 24 billion rupees. He said 130 million rupees had been set aside for providing basic facilities in LoC adjoining areas. Later, the speaker adjourned the session sine die.