ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Miftah Ismail on Friday proposed to build 100 sport stadiums all over the country on cost-sharing basis with the provincial governments.
“We are enhancing PSDP (Public Sector Development Programme) allocations for Higher Education Commission to Rs 57 billion, for primary health programmes to Rs 37 billion and for programmes for youth by Rs 10 billion,” the minister said in his budget speech in the National Assembly.
He said the Federal Government was also providing income support to more than 5 million families, and has also allocated funds for Pakistan Bait Al Mal, and Poverty Alleviation Fund.
Child stunting:
Federal Minister for Finance Mufta Ismail said on the instruction of Prime Minister Rs 10 billions had been allocated for a program to end child stunting in the country.
He said that amount for the program could be increased if needed any time. He stated that 30% of Pakistani children were stunted due to malnutrition and inadequate food, adding that there was no more tolerable. He reiterated that the government would provide through supplementary grants any amount that was needed to end child stunting.
Agriculture:
The government Friday proposed several relief measures for developing agriculture sector in the country and announced uniform general sales tax on all fertilizers.
It has announced uniform General Sales Tax (GST) at the rate of 3 percent on all fertilizers, which would eliminate distortion in tax regime, further reduce fertilizer prices and promote use of balanced nutrient.
The government also proposed to reduce GST on agriculture machinery from current 7 percent to 5 percent, where as concessions in taxes and duties were being proposed for dairy livestock sectors.
In Budget 2018-19, the government has also proposed for setting up an agriculture research support fund with an initial allocation of Rs 5 billion, which would provide financial grants for research and development of modern plant and seed verities for achieving higher crop yield.
Besides, the government has also proposed establishing the agriculture technology fund fir indigenization of agriculture technology with an initial allocation of Rs 5 billion.
Published in Daily Times, April 28th 2018.
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