Balochistan`s Rs465.5bn budget.

QUETTA -- Balochistan`s consolidate budget outlay of Rs465.5 billion for the next financial year faces a massive resource shortfall (deficit) of R s87.6bn which is about 19 per cent of the total size.An amount of Rs118.2bn has been set aside for the development programme.

The budget proposes to create 6,840new jobs in the public sector and provide provincial services tax relief of Rs680 million to the businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The government has also set aside Rs8bn for the disaster response fund established to fight off the impact of the health crisis and natural disasters and Rs2.5bn to acquire an air ambulance for shoring up emergency response.

Additionally, the development programme has allocated Rs4.5bn to cope with the impacts of the Covid-19 crisis in the province.

The budget increases current health allocations by 32pc to Rs31.4bn and allocates Rs7bn for development schemes in health sector. The increase is meant to improve health infrastructure and hospi-tal equipment besides recruiting new doctors and paramedical staff. Besides, the government is focusing on improving the quality of medical education.

The government has also tabled the Public Finance Management Bill 2020 to improve financial discipline in Balochistan. Additionally, it has set up an internal audit unit, a revenue management unit and a debit and investment unit at the provincial finance department to strengthen public finance management.

The budget was presented before the Balochistan Assembly by provincial Finance Minister Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi on Saturday. He minister opened his speech with a review of how the Covid-19 plague had affected the country and the province, and outlined the measures taken by the government to cope with the health crisis and its negative economic impacts on the people.

The minister said the government had formulated a tax revenue mobilisation strategy to reform tax administration in the province and broaden the tax base to increase its revenues and reduce its reliance on federal transfers.

Spealcing about reforms, he said the government was focusing on facilitating private investment in the...