KARACHI: A meeting of the Sindh cabinet which was originally scheduled for Friday will now be held on Saturday, it was officially announced on Thursday.

According to sources, an amount of Rs140 billion from the federal divisible pool had been outstanding against the Centre for the last three months.

No reason was given for the postponement of the meeting but sources attributed the change to the mourning for Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, wife of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

The nine months budget to be presented in the meeting provides for revised allocations keeping in view the changed situation now when the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has formed its government at the Centre, analysts believe.

In addition to approving the provincial budget for the remaining period of financial year 2018-19, the cabinet is to discuss the suo motu notice taken by the judiciary of luxurious vehicles — like Land Cruiser, Prado, Pajero, SUV, etc — being used by ministers and officers beyond their entitlement.

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah will preside over the meeting, which will be the third since it was formed.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2018