KP Assembly presents Rs923 billion budget for FY 2020-21

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday announced the tax-free budget with a total outlay of Rs923 billion for Fiscal Year 2020-21.

Presenting the budget in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra said the province will receive about Rs405 billion from the federal divisible pool.

Jhagra said that the coronavirus pandemic had a negative impact on the global economy and has also affected the provincial revenues. He added the budget is focused to improve the healthcare system of the province in view of the pandemic crisis.

He said the present budget is tax-free and the government maintained its allocations for development schemes despite facing a financial crisis.

Regarding the other expenditures, Jhagra said that Rs28 billion for local government, Rs19 billion for higher education and Rs15 billion for irrigation projects will be spent in the next year.

The finance minister said the province will receive Rs161 billion from the federal government for development of merged tribal districts. He said province will also get Rs48.6 billion from the federal government for the war on terror.

He said Rs58.3 billion will be provided to province as net hydel profit while over Rs24 billion will be given as royalty of oil and gas from federal government. Jhagra said Rs24 billion rupees have been set aside for the expected expenditure linked to COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the government has allocated Rs152 billion rupees for the promotion of education while Rs124 billion rupees for improvement in healthcare system. The government will spend Rs10 billion on provision of Sehat Insaf Cards to every citizen in the province.