It is not due to showing extra income but the reduction in non-development expenditures that the province’s 2011-12 fiscal year budget has been made a surplus budget, said Sindh Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah. He said this while speaking at the Post-Budget Press Conference held on Saturday. Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, Electric Power Minister Shazia Marri, Youth Affairs Minister Faisal Sabzwari, Adviser on Planning and Development Kaiser Bengali and Finance Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch among others were also present on the occasion.
Shah said that the budget is Rs 882.06 million in surplus. The total receipts of the province for new financial year are estimated at Rs 458.42 billion as against the ending year’s Rs 397.09 billion. The estimated revenue receipts from Federal Divisible Pool stand at Rs 251.86 billion.
The government plans to remove the liabilities on account of pensions in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank. The money of provident funds would not be utilised on government expenses in new financial year and directly spent on pensions. There is a 44 percent increase in allocations for GP Fund and pension, from Rs 18.684 billion of the current year, to Rs 27.07 billion in new fiscal year.
Around 17,000 jobs are being created including 3,897 jobs on provincial side and over 13,000 in district governments, of which around 8,414 jobs would be given in education sector, 4,283 in health and 130 in the revenue sector.
Giving more importance to the education sector, the government will invest Rs 26.2 billion, which is 15 percent higher than the current fiscal year. An amount of Rs 1.7 billion has been allocated for school-specific matching grant for district governments in new financial year. In addition to the provincial allocation of Rs 26.2 billion for education, the district governments’ allocation for devolved set up of education is estimated at Rs 52.05 billion.
Besides, Rs 150 million grant-in-aid has been reserved for Sindh Education Foundation; 25 million for Endowment Fund for higher education scholarships; Rs 245 million for rehabilitation of colleges; Rs 100 million for pick-and-drop facility for female colleges; Rs 40 million for merit scholarships; and Rs 200 million for emergency needs of the Education Department. Similarly, Rs 7.383 billion were allocated for Sindh Education Reform Programme.
Out of the total health budget of Rs 13.89 billion, the allocation for purchase of drugs and medicines is estimated at Rs 1.80 billion while 1,059 posts on the provincial and 4,283 vacancies in district level are being created.
Under the grant-in-aid to be given to medical universities and institutions, Rs1 billion would be provided to the SIUT; Rs 450 million to Dow University of Health Sciences; Rs 350 million to Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Medical University in Larkana; Rs 423 million to Gambat Institute of Health Sciences; and Rs 100 million to Institute of Medical Sciences Shahdadpur in Sanghar.
An amount of Rs 515 million has been allocated for the Karachi Circular Railway’s revival with financial assistance from Japan International Corporation Agency, the finance minister said.
