KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly has unanimously passed a deficit budget with a total outlay of Rs 1.714 trillion for the financial year 2022-23, as a majority of opposition parties were absent from a midnight session.

The assembly session was adjourned at 11:55 pm on Monday (June 27, 2022) and resumed at 12:08 am on Tuesday. After resumption the session lasted for only 15 minutes before adoption of the budget.

From the opposition benches only members of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan, which is believed to be in talks with the Pakistan People’s Party to join the Sindh government, voted on the budget.

Lawmakers from the main opposition parties — the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) — had left the house earlier.

The fiscal budget envisages no new tax, rather slashing of some professional, entertainment and cotton fees. A subsidy of Rs 3 billion has, however, been proposed for seeds, fertilisers and pesticides.

To deal with food insecurity, the fiscal plan extends a financial assistance of Rs 23.324 billion on wheat.

A five percent sales tax on services has been relaxed on toll manufacturing that will be applicable for recruiting agents, and the relief will continue till June 30, 2024.

Television cable operators falling in the R category of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority with setups in rural Sindh have also been exempted from sales tax on services till June 30, 2023. The operators in the other categories will receive a 10 percent cut in tax on services till June 30, 2024.

Sales tax is reduced by five percent to eight percent on commission charges that the food delivery chains receive from home chefs. The tax concession will continue through to June 30, 2024.

The SST will continue at 13 percent on services provided or rendered by the commission agents in a bid to underpin small businesses.

The total budget outlay for FY23 is estimated at Rs 1.714 trillion, against the budget estimates of Rs 1.478 trillion for FY22, showing an increase of 15.9 percent.

The total receipts for FY23 are estimated at Rs 1.680 trillion against budget estimates of Rs 1.452 trillion for this fiscal year, registering an overall increase of 15.7 percent.

Thus, Rs 1.714 trillion of expenditures and Rs 1.68 trillion of receipts make it a deficit budget of Rs 33.849 billion.

The budget 2022-23 estimates current expenditures of Rs 1.254 trillion, including current revenue expenditures of Rs 1.199 trillion and current capital expenditures of Rs 54.5 billion.

This is 73.2 percent of the total expenditure of the province and shows an increase of 9.1 percent when compared to the current expenditure of Rs 1.148 trillion for the preceding fiscal year.

“Yes, we have prepared an election budget,” Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah told the house, claiming his party will form a government at the Centre after the next general election.

He said his government will complete development projects worth Rs 460 billion. The federal government has the right to collect direct taxes and not the province.

“It is not a favour of the federal government, rather it’s Sindh’s right to get its financial share,” he said.

The house also passed a supplementary budget of Rs 93.56 billion with a majority vote. The chief minister tabled 78 demands for grants for the supplementary budget.

The cut motions moved by the PTI and GDA members on the supplementary budget were rejected.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022