LAHORE: Following a political deadlock for two days, Punjab Finance Minister Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari on Wednesday presented the Punjab budget for financial year (FY) 2022-23 with a total outlay of Rs3,226 billion at a Punjab Assembly session, held here at Aiwan-e-Iqbal.
Earlier, the provincial government failed to present the budget for the new fiscal year despite the Punjab Assembly session convened for the purpose for two days, owing to a deadlock with the speaker-led opposition.
On Monday, the Punjab Assembly witnessed a ruckus after Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi refused to hold the session and allow the provincial government to present its first budget. Pervaiz Elahi demanded that the Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Chief Secretary should be called in to the assembly to seek apologise from him and withdraw all cases filed against PTI and PML-Q workers and parliamentarians in connection with the chaotic April 16 session.
After six hours of back-to-back meetings between the treasury and opposition, followed by brief house proceedings, the speaker took a strong stance against the absence of the chief secretary and the IGP, stating that the proceedings would resume only when both officers were present in the assembly gallery.
Elahi adjourned the session until 1pm on Tuesday, after keeping the proceedings paused until 11 p.m., without allowing the presentation of the province’s budget for the fiscal year 2022-23.
However, when the assembly’s 40th session resumed on Tuesday, proceedings could not resume.
On Wednesday, the Hamza Shehbaz’s led government in its first annual budget, allocated a hefty amount of Rs685 billion for the Annual Development Programme (ADP), with special focus on pro-poor initiatives and controlling inflation. The government claimed in the budget document that no new tax has been imposed in the budget.
Giving break-up of the budget in his budget speech, the minister said that Punjab estimated its total revenue collection at Rs2,521.29 billion, under which Punjab would receive Rs2,020.74 billion from federal divisible pool, while provincial receipts (own resource revenue) are estimated at Rs500.53 billion for FY 2022-23, 24 per cent higher than Rs405 billion of FY 2021-22.
Out of own resource revenue, Leghari said that Punjab Revenue Authority’s (PRA’s) collection target had been set at Rs190 billion with 22 per cent increase, Board of Revenue (BoR) collection at Rs95 billion, with 44 per cent raise and Excise and Taxation Department’s collection at Rs43.5 billion with two per cent increase. While, 24 per cent hike is estimated under the head of non-tax revenue, having target of Rs163.53 billion for the next fiscal year starting from July 1, 2022, he added.
The government, he said, is going to allocate Rs435.87 billion for salaries of public sector employees, Rs312 billion for pension and Rs528 billion for local governments.
