LAHORE – Punjab budget for the next financial year will be presented in the provincial assembly in Lahore on Monday (today).
Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman will present the budget in the House.
Earlier, provincial cabinet will accord approval to the budget.
Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said that the budget for the next fiscal year will reflect the development vision of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif.
He said that the upcoming Punjab budget will be people-friendly.
Punjab Information Minister Uzma Bukhari has announced that the upcoming provincial budget will be tax-free, with no new taxes imposed on the public. She also stated that preparations for local government elections in Punjab are complete and the polls will be held soon.
Bukhari said that Chief Minister Punjab has rejected all proposals for new taxes, and salaries and pensions of government employees have been increased.
She added that the previous government had abolished local government elections in Punjab, but the current administration is committed to restoring them. “Whenever local government elections were held in Punjab, it was always under the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz,” she asserted.
Highlighting development initiatives, Bukhari said that in the past, development projects favored the wealthy while neglecting the poor. She claimed that roads and infrastructure work will be carried out in 64 cities across Punjab, including streets and neighborhoods.
The provincial government is also planning to build model villages, and many towns will see the construction of new roads and streets. “The 1,800 villages of Punjab will be on par with urban centers,” she said.
Azma Bukhari further stated that the Chief Minister holds two weekly meetings focused solely on monitoring the prices of essential commodities. Even during Eid-ul-Azha, the government ensured that prices of food items did not increase.
She pointed out that no provincial government in Pakistan currently has an effective mechanism to control prices, but Punjab has established a dedicated department for this purpose. She emphasized that the CM maintains zero tolerance for any rise in food prices.
