Punjab govt to present over Rs 2.4 trillion budget on June 15

LAHORE: The Punjab government will likely present over Rs 2.4 trillion budget for the fiscal year 2021-21 on June 15.

According to details, Punjab is likely to present the budget 2020-21 with an annual development outlay of Rs 437 billion while reducing the Punjab Sales Tax on Service rate to 5 percent for the majority of services.

Sources informed that an increase in salaries and pensions in line with the federal government decisions which is expected to 10 percent ad hoc relief.

According to sources, Punjab will allocate a huge budget for health for the next financial year due to Coronavirus’s impact, while the development budget is also likely to increase.

The increase of 136 percent is forecasted in primary and secondary healthcare with Rs11.8 billion allocation and 29 percent in Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education with an allocation of Rs37.5 billion.

Due to COVID-19 impact, the provincial government is considering reducing the Punjab Sales Tax on Service to the majority of the services until December 2020 besides extending the tax exemption given to the number of sectors in the backdrop of Covid-19 will also continue.

The revenue target for the Punjab Revenue Authority is being fixed at Rs 125.4 billion, Board of Revenue Rs65 billion, Excise and Taxation Rs 32 billion since the car sales are sharply declined for the last fiscal year.

The government is estimating Rs 365 billion allocation for the salaries budget, Rs 260.7 billion for pension budget, Rs24 billion for subsidies, and Rs 276 billion for service delivery expenditures which are estimated an increase of around 22 percent from last year of Rs 226.5 billion.