Post Budget Conference

Government of the Punjab will contest its case in National Finance Commission with full preparation, while in the past financial matters between in Punjab and Federal issues were completely ignored and province paid the cost of it.

Provincial Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht addressing post budget conference here on Wednesday said that surplus budget of Punjab would not be surrendered to anyone rather it would be judiciously utilized in the future budget and this budget surplus is created for fiscal space for the betterment of the country. He said that Government of the Punjab will present its growth strategy in next month and focus on public private partnership, and it will not be denominated by public like it was in the past.

The Minister said that current development strategy was adopted to correct the previous government mistakes while infrastructure development was not ignored in the budget. He said that construction and development would be continued in the neglected areas while increase in education and health budget was reflections of the PTI promises made with the public in the election. He said the government has allocated Rs. 15 billion for interest free loans for farmers which will directly benefit agriculture sector only. He said Rs. 433 million were allocated for skill development of the youth and Rs. 600 million projects will be started for training and to create new jobs.

The Minister said that the South Punjab was ignored in the past while the PTI government owns complete Punjab and will focus on the development of the province with balance approach. 

Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Raja Basharat, Minister Health Dr. Yasmeen Rashid, Minister Information and Culture Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan, Secretary Finance Sheikh Hamid Yaqoob and Chairman Planning and Development Department Habib-ur-Rehmaan were also present on the occasion.

Wednesday, October 17, 2018