Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the budget for next financial year, 2020-21 will be coronavirus impact-oriented, therefore a new strategy has been worked out under which priorities will be given to health services, employment generation, social security, and innovation in education sector. He was presiding over a meeting to set strategy for the next budget, 2020-21. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, CM Coordinators HarisGzadra, Chairman P&D Mohammad Waseem and his team, Secretary Finance Hassan Naqvi and his team and other concerned. The chief minister said that the coronavirus emergency indicators such as increase in expenditures, decrease in the government revenues, decline in exports, unemployment and loss of purchasing power were horrible and needed to be addressed with new strategy. He told his finance and Planning & development team that the first and top priority would be given to strengthen our health systems under which COVID-19 Emergency hospitals would be established. “We are already establishing Coronavirus Emergency center at NIPA and similar facilities would be developed at all the divisional headquarters,” he said. He said that all the other hospitals would be equipped with necessary gadgets. Talking about employment generation, Murad Ali Shah said that Small, Medium Enterprises (SMEs) was hardest hit by the COVID-19 crises. Therefore, he said that SMEs were in need of small loans, subsidies, and such other concessions to sustain. Shah said that soft loans to given to SMEs, apart from given them other concessions and subsidies. He said that short term loans would be up to Rs500,000 to small business and Rs2 million to medium enterprises. The CM said that the investment would be made in agriculture sector where soft loans for purchasing export quality seeds, DAP, (urea 9on subsidy) would be advanced so that export quality rice, pulses and other crops could be cultivated. “I would direct minister agriculture to guide the growers, particularly the small ones to switch them over to seasonal crops, new cash crops and export-oriented crops so that they can revive themselves and contribute in national economy,” he said. He said that loans would also be advanced for livestock and poultry. “This is a best business if the cattle are grown on scientific and healthy grounds – their demand in the international market is always on the rise,” he said.
