Sindh Budget 2016-17: Salient Features
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KARACHI, June 11 (APP): Sindh Budget 2016-17: Salient Features
Sindh Minister for Finance Syed Murad Ali Shah Saturday presented the Sindh Budget 2016-17 for Rs 869.1 billion in the Sindh Assembly.
Speaking in the assembly, he said the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the coming financial year would be Rs 225 billion, 39 per cent increase over the current year's ADP, which he termed was a great achievement.
He said the Sindh government would be able to mobilize additional resources through better revenue generation as well as through borrowing from the domestic market as per the ceiling given by the NEC (National Economic Council).
These additional revenues would be spent on development portfolio, as the government would ensure that the current budget should not increase by more than 13 per cent.
This, he said, was despite the fact that the salary and pension expenditure had to increase in order to provide relief to government employees and also to create new jobs. Moreover, the provincial government had also ensured that allocation for such important functions, as maintenance and repair of the existing infrastructure, non-salary expenditure of schools, and budget for the medicines and other equipment of the hospitals should increase substantially.
The minister said the focus of this budget was the overall betterment and welfare of the people, for which efficient and optimal utilization of the resources was mandatory, given that effective public financial management has direct impact on service delivery.
The government, he said, aimed at to move towards a peaceful and prosperous Sindh by bringing about sustainable and inclusive socio-economic, infrastructural and human resource development.
Referring to the status of National Finance Commission (NFC), he said it was the responsibility of the Federal Government to announce the NFC Award for a period of five years under Article 160 of the Constitution. The last NFC award was to end on June 30, 2015.
He called for the earliest completion of NFC.
