A Rs113 billion development outlay includes the Annual Development Programme of Rs75 billion, district government allocations of Rs15 billion, Rs16.6 billion federal grants for the Public Sector Development Plan (PSDP), foreign project assistance of Rs4.4 billion and drought emergency relief assistance of Rs893 million.
The chief minister, who also holds the finance portfolio, said: ‘No additional taxes had been levied in the budget for 2009-10’.
Referring to the resource gap, he said the government would provide it with austerity measures. The problem that issue would be solved, he added, if the federal government settled the issue of Rs204 billion arrears of GST on services. The figure, he said, had been revised from the previous estimate of Rs183.2 billion.
Sindh, he said, expected to get Rs125 billion, or 12.7 per cent more from funds allocated in 2008-09 from the divisible pool, including grant-in-aid.
According to him, oil and gas receipts are expected to generate Rs50 billion, or six per cent less than this year’s revised estimate of Rs53.4 billion.
The province, the chief minister said, was likely to generate Rs39 billion, or 29 per cent increase over revised estimates of outgoing fiscal, from its own resources and bulk of the increase was expected payment of land sale arrears and encashment of bank guarantees.
On the expenditure side, he said, current expenditure was likely to be Rs213.4 billion with an increase of 15 per cent over the revised estimate of Rs185 billion.
He said that Sindh was likely to accrue a current capital surplus of Rs5.4 billion in the shape of support loans from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
Local governments would get 21 per cent more or Rs94.4 billion, including the district support grant of Rs27.6 billion, allocated on the basis of the Provincial Finance Commission award.
Reiterating the government’s commitment to increase development spending, the Sindh chief minister said that despite fiscal constraints, the government would increase the size of the ADP to Rs90 billion from Rs67 billion.
Despite the need for additional resources, the chief minister said, no new taxes would be levied budget was being presented. ‘Steps are being taken for rationalising tax measures to provide more relief to the people’.
Announcing relief measures for exporters, he said there was a proposal to reduce the stamp duty on the ‘Bill of Exchange’ by 50 per cent from 0.15 per cent to 0.3 per cent.
Mr Shah said that the stamp duty on acknowledgement receipts, agreements or memoranda of agreements, bonds, certificates, or other documents, contracts, purchase orders, counterparts or duplicates, leases, promissory note, and settlements was also being ‘rationalised and increased because rates written on these documents have become irrelevant’.
‘The increase will not impose any direct burden on the general public,’ he said.
He announced that the government would reduce the ‘occupancy ratio’ from existing 80 per cent to 40 per cent in case of hotels charging up to Rs1,000, and 80 per cent to 60 per cent in case of hotels charging above Rs1000.
He also proposed death penalty for driving a vehicle without registration, prevent default and reduce the misuse of unregistered vehicles in crimes.
The chief minister said that electricity duty would be reduced to provide relief to consumers.Source: dawn.com
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