The new fiscal budget of Punjab (2007-08) will be people-friendly with special focus on poverty alleviation and employment opportunities. This was stated by Chairman of Punjab NA Standing Committee for Finance, Chaudhry Sibghatullah while talking to newsmen here in Pattoki on Wednesday.
He said the budget would extend benefit to all sections of the society, including farmers, traders as well as government servants. To ensure healthy participation of masses in the development process, he said, the government had already initiated various projects for addressing poverty issues and unemployment.
He said that more technical institutions would be set up to provide skill training to jobless persons so that they could get loans under "Khud Rozgar Scheme" for self-employment. He said that the government was also introducing different projects of women development to encourage their role in mainstream national development.
Talking about investment, he said that during the current year, foreign investment worth 500 million dollars was expected in the province, largely because of the Chief Minister's investor-friendly policies. The development budget for the current year is Rs 100 billion, the Chairman added.