Sindh CM presents Rs 1.2tr budget with deficit of Rs 18.38bn.

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday presented a Rs 1,241.13 billion budget with a deficit of Rs 18.38 billion for next financial year, 2020-21.

The budget session began under Speaker Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani, where Shah, who also holds the portfolio for provincial finance minister, presented the outlay.

In his budget speech, the Chief Minister said that the total outlay of budget 2020-21 was Rs 1,241.13 billion with Rs 18.38 billion deficit. He added that the Non-development Expenditure was estimated at Rs 968.99 billion, the Development Expenditure at Rs 232.94 billion and the Capital Expenditure was estimated at 39.19 billion.

According to the CM, the total Receipts are estimated at Rs 1,222.75 billion, including Federal Receipts at Rs 760.30 billion (65 percent), Provincial Receipts at Rs 313-39 billion (26.8 percent), Capital Receipts at Rs 25 billion (2.1 percent) and other Receipts (FPA & PSDP) at Rs 69.05 billion (5.9 percent).

Murad Ali Shah said that that no new tax has been introduced in the Budget 2020-21 and the increase in non-development expenditure is restricted to seven percent only.

Shah said that the increase in non-development expenditure was mainly due to provision of `COVID-related pro-poor Social Protection & Economic Sustainability package of Rs 34.2 billion and rise of Rs 19 billion in Health Sector and Rs 22.9 billion in Education Sector approximately from current year's budget allocations. He added that the austerity measures from non-development budget created space for development budget.

According to Mr Shah, this year, overall Federal Receipts are reduced by Rs 71.72 billion which constituted nine percent as compared to the current financial year 2019-20."The overall Provincial Receipts are estimated at Rs 313-4 billion which is nine percent higher than current financial year," he said.

In spite of pandemic challenge, economic slowdown and sluggish revenue targets, Shah said the Sindh government has introduced a "COVID Related Pro-poor Social Protection & Economic Sustainability Initiatives" of Rs 34.2 billion in budget 2020-21, with key sectors are social welfare, agriculture, industries and investment.

The CM said, "Rs 3 billion is earmarked for Poverty Alleviation Program for Small Business in Urban Areas, Rs 2 billion is proposed for Poverty Alleviation Program for Small Formers/Communities in Rural Areas, Rs 20 billion is estimated for Cash Transfer...