rs488bn budget presented in kp assembly

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance Minister Muzafar Said presented a Rs 488 billion provincial budget for the year 2015-16 on Monday, as opposition members staged a walk-out from the assembly session in protest.Opposition members chanted slogans against the KP government in the assembly hall while the provincial finance minister was giving his budget speech before they walked out of the assembly in protest. According to details read out by the finance minister, the budget does not include any new taxes but changes have been made to rates of existing taxes. The KP government has given 10 percent ad hoc relief in salaries for provincial government employees, while their medical allowances have been increased by 25 percent. The government has also recommended up-gradation of government employees in the budget proposals.The provincial government has set aside Rs 25bn for district governments formed after the recently held local bodies’ elections in the province.The KP government has proposed Rs175bn for the annual development programme, with 1500 ongoing projects and new proposed projects. The development programme also includes Rs33bn in foreign aid.For education, the provincial government is proposing to set aside over Rs21bn. A 19 percent increase is being proposed for health expenditure over last year’s allocation, coming to a total of approximately Rs12.31bn. Rs1.21bn is also being allocated for 53 projects relating to tourism and sports, while Rs3.20bn is proposed for 39 projects relating to power and electricity.According to other details, the allocation for the police department will see a 15 percent increase, social development will increase by 23 percent, and 11 percent increase in allocation for environment, 12 percent rise in funds for technical education, and a 12 percent increase in budgetary allocation for agriculture.