ISLAMABAD, May 18: The overall size of the budget for 2005-06 will be over Rs1 trillion, which would focus on sustaining 7 to 8 per cent GDP growth rate during the next five years, said a senior government official.

“The going forward objective of the next budget is to increase resources by sustaining 7 to 8 per cent growth rate and to create new job opportunities in the country,” said Economic Adviser to the Ministry of Finance Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan. The size of the current budget was Rs902 billion.

Talking to Dawn, he said that major thrust of the new budget would be to raise the income of the people by helping them to have better per capita income. There had been 6.5 per cent per capita income during the current financial year which was expected to be further increased during 2005-06 fiscal year, he added.

In the next ten years, he said, per capita income would be doubled and plans were being finalized to allocate maximum resources for infrastructure development, health and education in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). He said that the size of the new PSDP was likely to be increased.

Currently, he said, a total of 81 per cent of the federal component in the PSDP had been allocated for infrastructure and human development. “And the budget planners are trying to make available more resources for these two major sectors during 2005-06,” said Dr Khan, who is also the director-general of the Debt Coordination Office.

He said the new budget would focus on strengthening the country’s infrastructure especially roads, highways, communication and ports & shipping. For developing human resources more attention and more funds would be allocated for health and education.

In reply to another question, he said that the government was finalizing its priorities to make available substantial resources for health, education, clean drinking water, rural electrification, gas and water availability for agriculture in the new budget. There would be targeted interventions to provide adequate resources for these sectors and that the government was fully aware of the problems being faced by a common man, he said.

Asked about poverty alleviation and funding being kept for it in the next budget, Dr Khan said that vocational training was one of the major components of the new budget with a view to provide new jobs to people.