Shehbaz sees Rs700b PSDP insufficient
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed the affected areas to further increase the allocation of Rs700 billion for the next financial year’s development budget after opposing the “small envelope size” of the planning ministry, which does not seem to be enough to stimulate economic growth. in the country.
The prime minister gave the directive to enhance the public sector development budget (PSDP) during the first review of the Rs14.6 trillion unaudited budget for the financial year 2023-24.
The proposed amount is more than 50% more than the original budget for this year. According to sources from the meeting, the Prime Minister also instructed the Ministry of Finance to consider the proposed pay hike for federal civil servants.
They said the meeting participants also raised questions on the performance of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), which has failed to extend taxes and curb revenue leakage. An official letter issued by the Prime Minister’s Office reads that the Prime Minister has directed officials to take all steps to provide relief to the common people in the upcoming budget.
“All resources should be used to alleviate the financial hardship of the poor and middle class [groups],” Prime Minister Shehbaz told the conference. Out of Rs14.6 trillion, only Rs700 billion has been proposed by the Ministry of Finance as development expenditure for the next fiscal year, which is still less than what the PSDP approved for the outgoing.
“The 700 billion is not enough to support the country’s economic growth, because the size of public investment must be large given the current economic situation,” the planning minister said. growth and development, by Ahsan Iqbal, in The Express Tribune. Pakistan’s economy is passing through a difficult phase and various estimates point to a decline of up to 3% in nominal growth of around 0.5% in the next fiscal year.
