KP budget for 2014-15 likely to be above Rs4 trillion

[Devil Soul]

KP budget for 2014-15 likely to be above Rs4 trillion
By Zahir Shah Sherazi

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa budget for fiscal year 2014-15 is likely to be above Rs4 trillion as budget recommendations with Rs139 billion for Annual Development Programs (ADPs) and Rs 261 billion for ongoing schemes have been allocated.

The budget recommendations are likely to be presented to the provincial cabinet for approval on June 14 before its presentation in the assembly on the same day.

Official sources said that as the ADP has been raised by 18 per cent, the government was planning to levy over a dozen new taxes besides agriculture tax along with General Sales Tax (GST) on services.

Government employees are likely to get 10 to 15 per cent pay raise while the Annual Development Programme will have 1251 schemes, including 711 current and 540 new schemes.

The recommendations also include an allocation of Rs1587 million for agriculture, Rs8132 million for primary and secondary education, Rs3046 million for energy and power, Rs57 million for environment, Rs4094 million for finance, Rs149 million for Aquaf, Rs1271million for buildings, Rs1672 million for district ADPs, Rs501 million for food, Rs1015 million for forests, Rs8280 million for health, Rs6180 million for higher education, Rs956 million for housing, Rs3471 million for industries, Rs224 million for information, Rs26 million for labour, Rs105 million for law, Rs626 million for mineral development, Rs330 million for population, Rs7900 million for the poor, Rs12258 million for local development, Rs2053 for relief activities, Rs 1001 million for research,Rs9590 million for local infrastructure, Rs500 million for social welfare, Rs1325 million for sport and tourism, Rs1000 million for Science and Technology, Rs200 million for Transport, Rs7467 million for urban development and Rs4737 million for water.

Responding to a query on the upcoming budget at the KP Chamber of Commerce, Finance Minister Sirajul Haq said that the KPK government was likely to levy some additional taxes as money generated from taxes would be used for public welfare.

He said education and health would be the government’s top priority in the next budget instead of building new hospitals, schools and buildings.

Haq said that the federal government was giving only one per cent for counter terrorism efforts to KPK which should be enhanced to five per cent in view of the prevailing situation in the province.

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If i'm not wrong i read some where in this forum that KP will present a tax free budget & no additional taxes will be added...this report states otherwise

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

its 0.4trillion not 4

 

[ajpirzada]

i hope that the tax net is increased. instead of increasing the existing tax rates, new non-tax sectors/segments should be taxed. hopefully this is what is meant by 'additional taxes.' Agriculture tax and the urban property tax are the key.

 

[Leader]

‘KP education budget to rise substantially’


The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa budget for 2014-15 will see an increase in allocation for education, provincial minister Inayatullah said on Wednesday after the launch of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Budget analysis by the Centre for Governance and Public Accountability (CGPA).
“There will be (a) substantial increase in the education budget in the coming financial year,” he said, stressing that the issue of education was related to governance, and to improve education governance, a more participatory approach was needed. He stressed the need for more educational facilities for girls, and said that separate schemes for female education were required to fill the gap between female and male education. Inayatullah did not hint at the percentage the provincial government might have decided to increase the education budget with.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education Secretary Afzal Latif also spoke on the occasion, saying that that Rs 355 billion need to be invested in the next five years to improve the education crisis faced by the province. He stated that even if Rs 335 billion were available there were huge capacity issues. He appreciated the role of the civil society organisations in promoting education, and said that the government and civil society needed to work together to make the education budget more transparent.
The secretary also pointed that the tax base needed to be widened because the government functioning is dependent on direct taxes. The study reveals that in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education, there is little coincidence of policy claims and actual practices. “The study analysis the elementary and secondary education budget of KP for 2011-2012, 2012-13 and 2013-2014 highlighting the trends in allocation, priorities of the government and budget-making practices that require involvement of citizens,” the organisation conducting the study said.
It notes that despite Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s commitment to meeting the Millennium Development Goals of ensuring 100 percent enrolment rate in E&S and ensuring 88 percent overall literacy rate, the current budget allocation trends “do not match the policy claims”. The study highlights gender gaps in both provision of educational facilities and budget allocations. While the population of the province is almost evenly divided between male and female, educational facilities meant for girls only constitute 35-40% of the total budget.

‘KP education budget to rise substantially’

 

[Leader]

i hope that the tax net is increased. instead of increasing the existing tax rates, new non-tax sectors/segments should be taxed. hopefully this is what is meant by 'additional taxes.' Agriculture tax and the urban property tax are the key.

that too did happen, I think I shared the news on pdf.

 

[Hyde]

These journalists will never stop distinguishing between Billions and Trillions.

It's 0.4 trillion as rightly mentioned in post number 2.