KARACHI: Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah who also holds finance portfolio said that the Sindh government has pressured the federal government to release funds for the housing scheme, ARY News reported.
Addressing a post-budget press conference, CM Murad said that the housing scheme that aims to provide affordable housing to the people of Sindh is PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto’s success.
The Sindh government has already released Rs 25 billion for the scheme, but the federal government has yet to contribute its share of Rs 100 billion. CM Murad Ali Shah expressed disappointment over the federal government’s delay in releasing funds, stating that the promises made on paper have not been fulfilled.
Despite the challenges, the Sindh government has made significant progress in various sectors, including education, where Rs 519 billion has been allocated.
The CM also announced that the provincial government has increased the salaries of government employees and has expedited over 4,000 schemes, including 772 new schemes.
He stated “We are not getting our due share from the federal government”. We are supporting the federal government, but not part of it” CM Murad Ali Shah added.
Yesterday, the Sindh government proposed a two percent increase in the standard rate of Sindh Sales Tax (SST) as CM Murad presented Rs 3.056 trillion provincial budget for the fiscal year 2024-25.
Presenting the budget, the chief minister said that a 2 percent increase was proposed in the SST, however, the exemptions and reduced rates of SST, would remain effective.
“To promote digitalisation in the economy, it was proposed to reduce SST rate to 8percent for the restaurant services involving customers’ payments through digital means like debit/credit card, mobile wallet, QR Scanning, etc. For promoting the Telecom services which pay high rate of 19.5percent SST but utilize input items paying Federal Sales Tax of up to 18percent (which was previously 17percent), it is proposed to allow them the input tax credit of up to 18percent instead of 17percent as at present,” the chief minister said.
Read More: Sindh budget 2024-25: Solar panels announced for 2.6mn citizens
The Sindh government announced to provide solar panels to 2.6 million households free of cost across the province.
The chief minister said that the allocation of Rs 25 billion over five years will be directed towards distributing solar home systems, and promoting clean energy access.
“We will provide free solar systems as per the of the Pakistan People’s Party,” he added.
Mazdoor Card
The chief minister said that a Rs. 5 billion has been earmarked for welfare program to provide support for labourers through the Mazdoor Card. He said that to ensure social upward mobility, the budget allocated Rs. 11 billion to agriculture, Rs. 12 billion for social protection, Rs. 3.2 billion for Universities & Board, Rs. 2 billion for Housing & Town Planning, and Rs. 1.5 billion for DEPD.
Increase in salaries
CM Murad Ali Shah proposed a 25 percent increase in salaries of employees in BPS-7 to BPS-16 and a 22 percent rise in salaries of officers in BPS-17 to BPS-22.
The chief minister also announced to increase pension of Sindh government’s retired employees 15 percent.
He also proposed a 15 percent increase in pensions and the minimum wage from Rs35,550 to Rs37,000.
CM Murad Ali Shah said that the total outlay of the budget for the province is estimated at Rs3.056 trillion.
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