Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, also holding the finance portfolio, has urged the federal government to release the promised funds for Sindh’s housing scheme. Addressing a post-budget press conference, CM Murad highlighted the Sindh government’s commitment to the scheme, initiated under the leadership of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, which aims to provide affordable housing for the people of Sindh. CM Murad revealed that while the Sindh government has already allocated Rs 25 billion for the project, the federal government has yet to contribute its share of Rs 100 billion. He expressed disappointment over the delay, noting that despite promises, the federal government has not fulfilled its commitment. Despite these challenges, the Sindh government has made significant strides in various sectors, including education, where Rs 519 billion has been allocated. Additionally, the provincial government has increased salaries for government employees and expedited over 4,000 schemes, including 772 new initiatives.
“We are not getting our due share from the federal government,” CM Murad stated, emphasizing that while Sindh supports the federal government, it is not part of it. On Friday, the Sindh government proposed a two percent increase in the standard rate of Sindh Sales Tax (SST) as part of the Rs 3.056 trillion provincial budget for the fiscal year 2024-25. In presenting the budget, CM Murad proposed maintaining exemptions and reduced rates of SST.
To promote digital payments, he suggested reducing the SST rate to 8 percent for restaurant services involving digital transactions. Additionally, to support Telecom services, which currently pay a high SST rate of 19.5 percent, the input tax credit was proposed to be increased to 18 percent from the current 17 percent, aligning with the federal sales tax rate.
