Record Rs313bn uplift projects in Rs750.5bn Balochistan budget

With an eye on the upcoming elections, the Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qadoos Bizenjo-led Balochistan government on Monday presented a populist budget for the fiscal year 2023-24, envisaging an expansionary spending plan of Rs750.5 billion that carries a record development stimulus of Rs313.3bn in spite of a resource crunch. The budget presented by Finance Minister Zamaruk Khan Achakzai proposed to raise the pay of government employees by 35pc for BPS-1 to BPS-16 and 30pc for BPS-17 to BPS-22, while pensions have been increased by 17.5pc in line with the federal decision. The minimum wages have been revised up to Rs32,000 a month. Other important populist measures announced in the budget included creation of 4,389 government jobs, laptop and scholarship schemes for students, allocation of Rs5.5bn for health cards, launch of 5,068 new infrastructure development schemes, upgrade of nine district headquarters hospitals as teaching hospitals, upgrade of teachers’ posts, subsidies for farmers on purchase of bulldozers, tractors and seeds, provision of subsidised wheat flour and interest-free loans for wheat purchases.