KARACHI: The Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Friday presented the fiscal budget for the next year with a total outlay of Rs680 billion in the provincial assembly.
In his budget speech in the house presided over by the speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, the provincial chief minister said that the government is significantly increasing allocations for non-salaried budget of education and health as well as grants for municipal bodies.
The chief minister said that Rs185 billion have been allocated for the public sector development programme.
Qaim Ali Shah announced to provide 10 percent ad hoc relief to the government servants.
An increase of 10 percent has been proposed in the pension of retired government employees, while minimum wages of the workers have been increased to Rs11,000.
The Sindh chief minister said that Rs34 billion have been allocated for the education sector. He said that for the first time, Rs5 billion have been earmarked for universities in the province.
For the provision of clean drinking water to people in Thar, the provincial government has allocated Rs7.3 billion.
Moreover, the chief minister also announced to reduce sales tax on services from 16 to 15 percent.