KARACHI, June 10: The agriculture income tax (AIT) and abiana recovery in Sindh during the current fiscal year continued to show declining trend for the fifth consecutive year, Sindh Finance Minister Syed Sardar Ahmad disclosed on Friday in his budget speech.

“Almost all taxes have performed well except AIT where there has been a continuous decline,” the minister informed the Sindh Assembly while giving the last 10 months’ collection figures, which was Rs146.55 million as against Rs169.92 million during the same period of 2003-04.

Similarly, receipts from abiana continue to be low, as the last 10 months collection amounts to Rs206.85 million

as against Rs247.54 million in the corresponding period of 2003-04.

The Sindh finance minister said that there had been a marked increase in all crops production except sugarcane this year. Sindh has produced three million bales of cotton, exceeding the target of 2.4 million bales by a margin of 25 per cent. The production of rice is 1.5 million tons against a target of 1.37 million tons, a nine per cent increase. The production of wheat is 2.32 million tons as against last year’s production of 2.10 million tons.

According to economists, the improvement in per acre yield of cotton and rise in procurement prices of wheat had led to additional pumping of Rs15 to Rs18 billion in the rural economy, the bulk of which went to handful powerful wadera families of the province.