Lahore—Punjab Finance Minister Tanvir Ashraf
Kaira on Monday presented Rs 416.94 billion
annual Punjab budget with Rs 160 billion for
development and Rs 17 billion subsidy on basic
amenities for the poor. Giving break-up of the
budget 2008-09, the minister said that next
fiscal year’s revenue estimated at Rs 389
billion, while expenditure estimated at Rs
256.94 billion including Rs 17 billion of
subsidy grant, and a hefty grant of Rs 160
billion had been allocated for Annual
Development Programme (ADP). Tanvir Ashraf Kaira
said that next financial year’s estimated
revenues are 9 per cent higher than current
fiscal year. The minister elaborated that Rs 160
ADP had been allocated as surplus grant in
revenue account estimated at Rs 132.94 billion,
capital account Rs 13.59 billion, public account
Rs 1.22 billion and Rs 12.23 billion for foreign
funded projects.
Lahore—Punjab government has pitched the Annual
Development Programme 2008-09 (ADP) at Rs 160
billion which is Rs 39 billion (24 percent)
higher than the last years revised size. The
core programme stands at Rs 119 billion which is
74.4 percent of the total development outlay.
The Annual Development Programme (ADP) 2008-09
marks the third year of the medium term planning
process and is geared towards achieving the
goals of equitable and balanced growth, poverty
alleviation, knowledge-based economy and
effective, transparent and accountable
governance.
Karachi—Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah Monday
presented Rs.267.7 billion Sindh budget for the
year 2008-09 revised budget of Rs.234.6 billion
with a net deficit of Rs.14 billion.
“We acknowledge that this is a big deficit but I
have taken this decision in view of the type of
programmes that we must unfold for moving
towards relief and economic reform agenda,” he
said while presenting the budget at Sindh
assembly session this evening.
Peshawar—The ANP-PPP led coalition government
Monday presented their first tax free annual
budget 2008-09 with a total outlay of Rs.170.904
billion showing a meagre amounts of Rs.345
million as surplus. The NWFP Government also
announced increase in the pay and pension of the
government employees by 20 percent besides
allocating Rs.2 billion for wheat subsidy. The
volume of ADP 2008-09 has been pitched at record
Rs.41.545 billion showing 39 percent increase
over the outgoing fiscal’s development programme.
Lahore—Co-chairman, Pakistan People’s Party
(PPP), Asif Ali Zardari Monday said the day is
not far off when the Presidency will echo with
the slogans of ‘Jeay Bhutto’and there will be a
pro-PPP president in Islamabad. In a fiery
speech at the Governor House in Lahore, PPP
co-chairman told a charged gathering of PPP
workers that their leaders are neither weak nor
tired, they are just waiting for the right time.
Karachi—Though the market opened on a positive
note but could not be sustain the upward
momentum on the back of selling pressure making
KSE-100 Index to shed 497 points to close at
12,444 points level. Actually the pressure was
witnessed across the board mainly due to reports
related to the implementation of government
decision to withdraw deposits from commercial
banks and place them in the SBP to cope up with
budget deficit. The unchanged oil prices to curb
inflation led to negative sentiments on the Oil
Market Companies (OMC) sector.
Islamabad—Pakistan on Tuesday warned Afghanistan
that it would not tolerate any violation of its
territory and will defend its territorial
sovereignty. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood
Qureshi said this while regretting the statement
of Afghan President Hamid Karzai of Sunday that
his country was justified in launching attacks
on militants inside Pakistan territory. “It is
regrettable that such a statement was made at a
time when the two sides had agreed to close
ranks in the fight against terrorism,” the
minister said in response to a question in the
National Assebly regarding Karzai’s statement.
Washington DC—President Bush addressing a press
conference in London has supported the concerns
of the Karzai government for the hot pursuit by
the afghan forces into territories controlled by
Pakistan. To a question asked whether he
supported the Karzai government on the issue of
following the militants to their so-called safe
havens in Pakistani territory bush said “he will
be concerned if he was the president of a
country (which was threatened by the militants
from across the border).
Guwahati—Flash
floods and mudslides unleashed by heavy monsoon
rains have claimed 25 lives and displaced
200,000 people in northeastern India, officials
said Monday. Six people drowned overnight in
Assam state as they tried to escape gushing
floodwaters in bamboo rafts, state relief and
rehabilitation minister Bhumidhar Barman said.
“We have reports of six deaths so far and about
200,000 people displaced from their homes in the
two districts of Lakhimpur and Sonitpur with the
flood situation turning critical,” Barman told
AFP. The death toll in a series of mudslides on
the weekend in the neighbouring state of
Arunachal Pradesh has mounted to 19.
