Sindh’s budget tomorrow for remaining fiscal year

KARACHI: The budget estimates of the Sindh government for the remaining nine months of the ongoing fiscal year 2018-19 will be presented in the Sindh Assembly tomorrow.

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who holds the portfolio of the finance department, will likely deliver the speech in the house to present the government’s budgetary estimates for the period from October to June 2019.

Before the completion of its tenure, the previous government of the Pakistan Peoples Party had on May 28 gotten a three-month budget passed by the House to be used by the new government till September 30.

The government had presented a tax-free budget of Rs1.144 trillion in the provincial assembly on May 10. Shah, who was CM at the time, had said that approving the provincial budget of only the first three months would allow the upcoming provincial government after the general elections to do desirable adjustments in the budget for rest of the fiscal year as per its own mandate to rule in the province.

The current Sindh cabinet will also meet on Friday (tomorrow) at 10:30am, with the CM in chair, where approval will be taken for the budget before its presentation in the assembly.

The Sindh government’s additional chief secretary for finance department will make a presentation before the cabinet on the budget.

The cabinet meeting will also consider the issue of utilisation of luxury government vehicles, which were recovered from the possession of provincial government ministers and officers as they were beyond their official entitlement. The cabinet will consider this issue again in view of suo-motu proceedings of the Supreme Court on the matter.

The secretary for Services, General Administration & Coordination Department will lead a presentation on the matter in the cabinet meeting.

Meanwhile, CM Shah met the newly-posted Sindh Inspector General of Police Dr Syed Kaleem Imam at the CM House on Wednesday. He directed the new IGP to take measures to further improve the province’s law and order situation.

Shah said that after much hard work and struggle, the provincial government had restored law and order in the province and steps should be taken by the provincial police force to make it a sustainable and permanent feature.