QUETTA: Adviser to the Chief Minister on Finance Aslam Bezenjo will present Balochistan budget for the facial year 2017-18 in the provincial assembly on Thursday (June 15).
The budget outlay will be Rs325 billion, while Rs86bn would be allotted for development. It will be a deficit budget.
Finance Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani told a pre-budget seminar that the development budget would be Rs16bn more than the current year’s allocation. He said that there would be a gap of Rs48-86bn between receipts and expenditures in the next financial year. He said Rs52bn would be allocated for education, Rs33bn for maintenance of public order, Rs23bn for public health, Rs21bn for public health engineering, Rs17bn for energy projects, Rs19bn for communications, Rs11bn for agriculture and Rs7bn for irrigation.
He said that Rs10bn would be allotted for setting up the Balochistan Bank.
Additional Chief Secretary, Planning and Development, Dr Omer Babar told newsmen that out of Rs86bn development budget, 35 per cent fund would be spent on social sector projects, including education, health and water resources, and 30pc on agriculture, mines and minerals, fisheries and other productive sectors, while remaining 35pc would be spent on infrastructure, energy, irrigation and communications.
Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2017
