Sindh unveils Rs 1.477tr tax-free budget for FY22.

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday presented Rs 1.477 trillion tax-free budget for financial year 2021-22 amid protest by the opposition on the floor of the provincial assembly.

The chief minister, who also holds the portfolio of finance minister, in his budget speech said that the development expenditure of the province is estimated at Rs 329.032 billion, which include Rs 222.5 billion for Provincial ADP and Rs 30.0 billion for Districts ADP.

"I am pleased to announce that for next financial year we are not proposing any new tax," he said, adding that the total budget outlay for Financial Year 2021-22 is estimated at Rs 1.477 trillion, as against budget estimate of Rs 1.241 trillion for the current year, showing overall increase of 19%. The current expenditure of the province is projected at Rs 1.14 trillion, which includes current revenue expenditure of Rs 1.089 trillion and current capital expenditure of Rs 59.49 billion. This is 78% of total expenditure of the province and shows an increase of 14% over estimates of Rs 1 trillion for last year. "It is important to highlight here that for the next financial year, we have tried to align our development as well as non-development expenditure priorities in line with the post Covid-19 situation," he added.

The total receipts of province for financial year 2021-22 are estimated at Rs 1.452 trillion as against budget estimate of Rs 1.22 trillion for the current year, showing overall increase of 19%. Receipts from federal government on account of revenue assignment, straight transfers and grants are estimated at Rs 869.68 billion, which constitute 72.5% of total receipts of the province. It is an increase of 12.6%, over estimates of Rs.760.3 billion of last year. However, the budget estimates of straight transfers for next year have decreased substantially by approximately 20.6% to Rs 49.5 billion from the budget estimates of Rs 62.34 billion of the current fiscal year. Receipts of fPSDP are estimated at Rs 5.37 billion. Receipts on account of foreign project assistance (FPA), budgetary support loans and grants are estimated at Rs 71 billion. Receipts from provincial own sources on account of tax and non-tax receipts are estimated at Rs 329.033 billion, which constitute 27.5% of total receipts. This is an increase of 4.8% over estimates of Rs 313.4 billion of current year.

Murad said that 1033 schemes have been identified for the next financial year 2021-22 for...