Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has presented the budget for the next fiscal year in the provincial assembly.

According to the details, The total outlay of the provincial budget for Financial Year 2020-21 stands at Rs 1.24 trillion.

The total provincial tax collection is estimated at Rs. 313.4 billion, which is 9% more than the current financial year.

Murad Ali Shah initiated his speech by addressing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has not only been a health crisis but has also created economic issues due to lockdown imposed throughout the country.

He said Rs 300 billion has been earmarked for poverty alleviation programs for small businesses in urban areas.

An amount of Rs. 2000 billion has been estimated for cash transfer under Sindh People’s Support Program. Rs. 200 billion is proposed for the poverty alleviation program for small workers/communities in rural areas.

Rs 1 billion has been allocated to small farmers as a concession for quality rice seeds. Rs 100 billion has been allocated for fertilizer subsidy to small farmers. Rs 100 billion has been allocated to small farmers as subsidy for pesticides. Rs.700 million is proposed for IT Technology Solutions. Rs.500 million has been earmarked for startups incubators and accelerators based on supporting technology.

He said Rs.500 billion has been allocated for a soft loan program for small and medium enterprises through Sindh Bank. The budget of the Agriculture Department has been increased by 40% to Rs. 15.84 billion. The Sindh government has allocated Rs 440.0 million for locust control.

The budget of the Department of Health has been increased by 16.1% to Rs. 1939.18 billion to deal with epidemics and contagious diseases.

Federal Budget

The federal government presented ‘Corona’ budget for the next fiscal year on Friday with a total outlay for the next fiscal year has been projected at Rs 7132 billion and total revenue at Rs 6573 billion with the federal board of revenue share of Rs 4963 billion as opposed to Rs 3900 billion for the current fiscal year.