LAHORE (92 News) – The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government on Tuesday unveiled Rs7tr budget for FY20 as its first annual budget in the National Assembly.
In the budget session, State Minster for revenue Hammad Azhar presented in Parliament the austerity-driven budget for the FY20, which starts from July 1.
The government unveiled
Rs 7,022 billion for theFY20, setting a growth target of 4 per cent. “Defence budget will remain unchanged at Rs 1
,150 billion to the level of last year,” he said.
The minister also mentioned that it will in no way impact the defence capability of the country because defence of the country is sacred for the government.
30 per cent higher than the revised outlay
Hammad Azhar said that the outlay of the federal budget for FY 2019-20 is proposed to be Rs7,022billion, which is
30% higher than the revised outlay of Rs5,385 billion for the outgoing financial year.
The net federal revenues are estimated at Rs3,462 billion during 2019-20 in comparison to the Rs3,070 billion budgeted in the current year, which indicates an increase of 13%. This is expected to produce a federal
budget deficit of Rs3,550 billion.
Revenue collection target
The total revenue collection target has been set at
Rs6716.6 billion, of which
Rs5,822.2 billion will be generated through the
federal tax collection.
The government has decided to reduce civilian spending 5% from Rs460b to Rs437b. Defence spending will not be increased. It will be kept at last year’s Rs1,152b.
Rs200b for power consumers use less than 300 units
Seventy-five percent of power consumers use less than 300 units. They will be given a subsidy. The government has allocated Rs200b for this.
New ministry will be formed
A new ministry will be formed to provide social safety to the poor, jobless, widows. The government is starting a ration card scheme for healthy nutrition. One million people, especially mothers and children, will be covered.
Interest-free loans & BISP stipend
Eighty thousand deserving people will get interest-free loans. The Benazir Income Support Project stipend will be increased from Rs5,000 to Rs5,500. The government has decided not to borrow money from the
State Bank of Pakistan.
Rs1,800 billion for development
The government has allocated Rs1,800 billion for development, including Rs950 billion for federal development programs, including water, supply and transmission and distribution of electricity. The government has allocated
Rs45.5 billion for nine development projects in Karachi.
Also, Rs93 billion have been set aside for
education, health, nutrition and water.
The government has allocated
Rs152 million for the development and uplift of the newly merged tribal districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Rs1 billion through mobile phone licenses
The government has contacted foreign investors to run the Pakistan Steel Mills. It also expects to earn around Rs1 billion through mobile phone licenses.
Rs431b for salaries, other running expenses
The government will spend Rs431b on itself, that is for government salaries and other running expenses.
Government employees (grades 1 to 16) will get a 10% ad hoc allowance. Grade 17 to 20 employees will get a 5% ad hoc allowance. There will be no increase in the salaries of Grades 21 and 22 employees. The civilian and army pensioners will get a 10% raise in their pensions. The cabinet members have agreed to lower their salaries 10% on the suggestion of PM Khan.
Rs701 billion on developments
The government will spend Rs701 billion on development (read roads, schools, hospitals, power plants etc). This is less than 10% of the budget.
Govt to need to borrow Rs3,151.2 trillion
The government is once again facing a big deficit since its expenses far exceed its revenues. In fiscal year 2019-2020, it will face a loss of Rs3,151.2 billion, which is 7.2% of the GDP. This means, after collecting all taxes and other income, the government will need to borrow
Rs3,151.2 trillion to meet its budgetary needs. This money will come in the form of loans.
Rs20bn for Diamer-Bhasha
The minimum wage rate has been set at Rs 17,500. An amount of Rs20 billion has been allocated for the Diamer-Bhasha dam and Rs15 billion for the Mohmand dam.
NFC Award to be given Rs3,255bn
As far as the NFC Award is concerned, provinces are to be given Rs3,255 billion. Azhar did not reveal the share of each province.
