Rs232 biln Azad Jammu & Kashmir budget for next Financial Year 2023-24 presented in AJK Legislative Assembly
MUZAFFARABAD ( Web News )
The first tax free budget for Azad Jammu and Kashmir for the Financial Year 2023-24 has been presented in the AJK Legislative Assembly while total outlay of has been proposed at Rs.232 biln.
Senior Most Minister for Finance for Azad Jammu and Kashmir Colonel (retd) Waqar Ahmed Noor presented the budget for the first time who was appointed as Finance Minister by Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq the previous day.
Speaker Legislative Assembly Chaudhry Latif Akbar presided over the assembly session who also recited from the Holy Quran and Naat Rasool (SAW) and then announced the penal of chairmen comprising the members of the assembly including Mian Abdul Waheed, Chaudhry Azhar Sadiq and Sardar Hassan Ibrahim Khan.
During the hours of presenting the budget, the opposition members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) did not walk out of the house. Delivering the budget speech, Colonel (retd) Waqar Ahmed Noor said that an extraordinary amount of Rs 42 billion was allocated for the development projects.
According to details, there is a 29% increase in this year’s total budget as compared to last year’s. Tax revenue target has been set at Rs.44 billion. Moreover, Rs.190 billion worth of non-development expenditures have been suggested.
Income tax has been estimated at Rs31 billion, other taxes Rs13 billion, variable grant Rs90 billion, while federal revenue resources have been estimated at Rs.29.85 billion.
For the next year, the target for literacy rate in Azad Jammu and Kashmir has been set at 85%. The estimated income generated from water use is Rs.1.70 billion.
In the development budget, Rs.30 billion will be provided by the federal government, while Rs12 billion will be generated from the region’s own resources.
The next year’s budget is Rs.69 billion more than the total allocation of last year. Next year’s development budget is proposed to be 47% higher than the outgoing year’s expenses.
The largest portion of the proposed development budget, Rs.14.5 billion is planned to be spent on newspapers and magazines.