Web Report
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday unveiled with a total outlay of Rs4.75 trillion.
Already the country’s economy has gone past the 5% threshold this year and Pakistan has now set a target of 6% Gross Domestic Product growth for the upcoming fiscal year.
It has earmarked Rs1.001 trillion for the Public Sector Development Programme – a key indicator of development work going on in the country – which is 25% more than last-year’s allocation.
All eyes were on the finance minister as he announced pro-business measures to boost economic growth and push Pakistan among the ranks of leading economies, as he mentioned during the unveiling of the Economic Survey 2016-17 a day ago as well as today.
Many sectors of the economy hoped that the government will come up with some incentives and concessions to help them cope with the challenges of modern times as competition gets stiffer day by day.
Salaries of army officers to be increased by 10% in addition to a ‘special allowance’ — 10% of their income, would be given, says Dar.
“Pensions of federal government employees and army personnel will be increased by 10%,” he adds.
“Salaries of government employees will be increased by 10%.”
Further, the finance minister says minimum wage has been increased from Rs14,000 to Rs15,000.
The Finance Minister will also lay in the house papers containing the Supplementary Demands for Grants and Appropriations for the financial year 2016-2017.
Meanwhile, the 263rd session of the Senate will also start at six in the afternoon on Saturday.
The Finance Minister will present a copy of the Finance Bill 2017 in the Senate seeking proposals and recommendations from the upper house.
The Finance Minister said per capita income has increased due to effective economic policies of the present government.
He said national economy has crossed 300 billion dollars threshold.
The Minister said international community is acknowledging improvement in national economy and ready to invest in Pakistan.
He said the government will focus on further promoting agriculture and information technology sectors.
