LAHORE, June 14: The PML government in Punjab, which presented its fourth budget in the assembly on Wednesday, has put the province on the road to economic development, says finance minister Hasnain Bahadur Dareshek.

In his budget speech, the minister said the government policies had made the provincial GDP to grow at 7-8 per cent for the last three consecutive years, creation of 3.5 million jobs in two years, and 11 per cent reduction in poverty.

He claimed that it was the first provincial government that had given exemptions to farmers with less than 12.5 acre landholding from payment of agriculture tax and owners of five-marla houses from property tax and distributed 100,000 acres among landless farmers.

He said the government had also allowed five per cent subsidy on agriculture loans and ensured their availability. He said the government had disbursed subsidised loans to the tune of Rs2.5 billion for development of the livestock sector to create employment and increase income.

Similarly, loans of Rs1.5 billion were disbursed for the promotion of cottage and small industries. He also gave a detailed review of the government policies and initiatives in health, education, water supply and sanitation, saying the government’s economic and social policies had started to yield results in the form of increased incomes, new jobs and rapid economic growth.

He said the government was focusing on facilitating the private sector as an engine of economic growth and had taken a number of measures in order to help boost private investment in economic and social sectors in the province so that more new jobs could be created. Similarly, he said a large chunk of uplift funds had been spent on infrastructure projects in road, irrigation and other sectors.

He said the provincial government had ably protected the rights of Punjab during negotiations on the NFC award. He said distribution of funds under the NFC arrangement on the basis of population was a proof of the provincial government’s efforts.

The minister’s speech, short compared to his previous budget speech, appeared to be a formality and a repetition of the chief minister’s pre-budget address.