Budget 2020-21: PM Imran for increase in development budget

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Sunday directed the provincial governments to pay special attention to reducing non-development budget and increasing development expenditure.

In this context, a high-level meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, which deliberated on the proposed budget of the Federation and Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the financial year 2020-20.

The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Information Minister Senator Shibli Faraz, Industry Minister Muhammad Hamad Azhar, Planning Minister Asad Umar, Advisers Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Abdul Razak Dawood, Dr Ishrat Hussain, Syed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari, Lt Gen (R) Asim Saleem Bajwa, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Bazdar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mehmood Khan, Punjab Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim Javan Bakht, KP Finance Minister Timur Saleem Jhagra and senior officials.

In the meeting, Usman Bazdar and Mehmood Khan's economic teams briefed about the provincial governments’ financial matters keeping in view the ground realities regarding revenue and expenditure for the next financial year 2020-21.

Addressing the meeting, Imran Khan said that at present there were extraordinary economic conditions all over the world due to coronavirus. He said the budget for the next financial year was being presented in exceptional circumstances.

“In view of these circumstances, it should be ensured that non-development expenditure is reduced and development expenditure increased,” he said. In this regard, the prime minister was also given a special briefing on the priorities in the budget for the development of special economic zones and agriculture sector.

The prime minister directed that federal-style provincial governments should also pay special attention to reducing unnecessary government expenditure. He directed to set priorities especially for those projects and to put into practice those priorities which would create employment opportunities and accelerate the wheel of the economy. He said that in large urban areas where the coronavirus outbreak has had a devastating effect, full employment opportunities should be created.

To meet the national and provincial development needs and to ensure the participation of the private sector in development projects, the prime minister called for facilitating the private sector to implement projects under public-private partnership.

The prime minister directed the provincial governments to pay special attention to the upgradation of the health sector with regard to development projects so that the people could have access to quality healthcare facilities.