May 27, 2024 (MLN): The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has unveiled its budget of Rs1.75 trillion for the upcoming fiscal year 2024-25, with a surplus of Rs100 billion.
The budget, presented by KP Finance Minister Aftab Alam Afridi on Friday estimates a development outlay of Rs416.3bn, 38.3% higher than that of last year’s Rs301.1bn.
The budgeted expenditure is Rs1.65tr, which is 21.3% higher than Rs1.36tr incurred during the ongoing fiscal year 2023-24.
Meanwhile, keeping in view the rising inflation, the provincial government has proposed a 10% increase in the basic salary for government employees, as well as a 10% increase in pensions for pensioners.
Apart from this, KP government recommended to increase the minimum monthly wage from Rs32,000 to Rs36,000 per month.
Finance Minister Afridi said that the sales tax on hotels has been reduced from 8% to 6%. However, the use of a restaurant invoice management system (RIMS) has been made mandatory for all hotels.
Moreover, introduction of a fixed sales tax rate on wedding halls has been proposed.
The budget also proposed to reduce property tax from Rs13,600 to Rs10,000 per kanal.
The commercial tax rate on monthly rentals has been reduced from 16% to 10%, while tax on private hospitals, medical stores and other businesses related to the health sector has been reduced from 16% to 5%.
According to the budget documents, Rs26.7bn has been allocated for wheat subsidy, Rs3bn for Public Sector Universities, Rs1bn for KP IT Board, and Rs34bn for Sehat Card Plus program.
The ADP 2024-25 of Rs416.4bn comprises development funds for the settled and merged areas.
For provincial ADP, Rs120bn has been allocated for the settled districts. Meanwhile, Rs109.3bn has been allocated for developing the province’s merged districts—including Accelerated Implementation Program (AIP).
Moreover, Rs26.4bn has been earmarked under the public sector development program (PSDP).
The foreign project assistance is proposed at a significant Rs130.6bn for FY25.
| Sector / Head | FY25b Settled | FY25b Merged | Total FY25b |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elementary & Secondary Education | 294.0 | 54.8 | 348.8 |
| Health | 204.2 | 24.6 | 228.8 |
| Pension | 162.4 | 4.4 | 166.8 |
| Home & Tribal Affairs | 107.5 | 33.2 | 140.6 |
| Debt Servicing | 116.0 | 0.0 | 116.0 |
| Planning & Development | 49.3 | 18.9 | 68.2 |
| Communication & Works | 45.7 | 14.8 | 60.5 |
| Local Government | 37.0 | 4.3 | 41.3 |
| Finance | 29.2 | 9.0 | 38.2 |
| Higher Education, Archives & Libraries | 31.9 | 3.9 | 35.8 |
| Relief Rehabilitation & Settlement | 13.0 | 18.3 | 31.2 |
| Energy & Power | 29.1 | 1.7 | 30.8 |
| Irrigation | 26.2 | 4.4 | 30.6 |
| District ADP | 24.0 | 6.0 | 30.0 |
| Food | 26.3 | 1.7 | 27.9 |
| Agriculture | 23.9 | 2.6 | 26.6 |
| Public Health Engineering | 19.5 | 4.2 | 23.7 |
| Law & Parliamentary Affairs | 16.6 | 1.7 | 18.3 |
| Revenue & Estate | 13.3 | 3.3 | 16.5 |
| Livestock & Dairy Development | 11.2 | 2.1 | 13.3 |
| Grant To Local Councils | 11.1 | 2.1 | 13.2 |
| Environment & Forestry | 10.1 | 1.8 | 11.9 |
| Tourism, Culture, Archaeology & Museums | 9.2 | 0.5 | 9.7 |
| Zakat, Ushr, Social Welfare, Special Education & Women Empowerment | 7.9 | 1.7 | 9.5 |
| Establishment & Administration | 9.1 | 0.4 | 9.4 |
| Sports & Youth Affairs | 7.2 | 1.4 | 8.6 |
| Industries, Commerce & Technical Education | 6.1 | 1.4 | 7.5 |
| Population Welfare | 4.6 | 0.7 | 5.3 |
| Auqaf, Religious, Minority & Hajj | 3.6 | 0.1 | 3.7 |
| Transport & Mass Transit | 3.7 | 0.0 | 3.7 |
| Science Technology & Information Technology | 3.0 | 0.3 | 3.3 |
| Provincial Assembly | 3.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| Mines & Mineral Development | 1.9 | 0.2 | 2.1 |
| Excise & Taxation | 1.8 | 0.1 | 1.9 |
| Labour | 0.9 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Information & Public Relations | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.8 |
| Housing | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Inter Provincial Coordination | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
Amount in PKR Billion
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Posted on: 2024-05-27T11:37:15+05:00
