KARACHI:Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Monday presented Rs 851.9 billion remaining Sindh Budget for period 1st October to 30 June FY2018-19.
In his budget speech, Sindh Chief Minister said that during the announcement of budget 2018-19, they had requested the house to authorize expenditure for only three months from 1st July to 30th September 2018. “Though constitutionally, we had the mandate to present the budget for the entire financial year in order to uphold PPP’s principles of fair play, we left it to the incoming government to set budget priorities for themselves, which is again in the government,” Shah said.
The chief minister said that the total budget outlay for current financial year 2018-19 is Rs1144.5 billion. “The previous elected provincial government had authorized funds amounting to Rs292.6 billion for first quarter of FY 2018-19. The total current revenue expenditure is 773.3 billion out of which Rs193.3 billion stands authorized,” he said.
The chief minister said that as against current capital expenditure of Rs27.3 billion, Rs 6.9 billion had already been authorized. For development side, Rs 63 billion had already been authorized.
He said that the total development budget outlay during 2018-19 is Rs343.911 billion, of which Rs 252 billion was estimated for provincial ADP and Rs 30 billion for district ADP schemes, Rs 46.895 billion from Foreign Projects Assistance (FPA and FERP) and Rs 15.017 billion by federal government through PSDP schemes under execution of Sindh government.
“The provincial ADP 2018-19 includes Rs202 billion for 2226 ongoing schemes, and a block allocation of Rs 50 billion was estimated for new schemes. “Our provincial development portfolio now faces an allocation cut of Rs 24 billion. Now the size of provincial ADP for 2018-19 is Rs 228 billion out of which Rs 5 billion will be diverted to district ADP that will be enhanced from Rs 30 billion to Rs 35 billion while Rs 21 billion will be authorized for new ADP schemes,” the chief minister said.
Shah said that the total budgetary allocation for home department during FY 2018-19 is Rs 102.483 billion. He said: “During FY2018-19, the non-development budget of education has been increased from Rs 178.7 billion to Rs 211 billion, whereas on development side, Rs 24.4 billion have been allocated in ADP 2018-19.”
The chief minister said that another high priority area of his government was the provision of clean drinking water and sanitation facilities to the people. We believe that it is a fundamental right of every citizen to get clean drinking water and improved sanitation system, said the chief minister.
He said: “We have allocated Rs 250 million for completion of ongoing schemes which include establishment of women complexes, training centers and clubs in various districts.”
The allocation for health sector during FY 2018-19 is Rs 102.224 billion on non-development side and Rs 12.50 billion development side, Shah said.
The chief minister said that during the current financial year, the 2nd phase of the Peoples Poverty Reduction Program had been included in ADP 2018-19 at a estimated cost of Rs4000 million with allocation of Rs 1000 million to cover 288 UCs of six districts – Ghotki, Sukkur, Naushehro Feroze, Benazirabad, Karachi and Hyderabad.
General discussion on the budget statement for this remaining period will be held on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of September 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28, 2018, respectively.
The discussion on the charged expenditure for one hour and the discussion and voting on demands for grants for the year 2018-19 will be held on Saturday, 29 September 2018.
Laying before the assembly and the schedule of authorized expenditure for the year 2018-19 will happen same day.