LAHORE: The Punjab government will present its tax-free budget for the year 2024-25 on Thursday (today) with a focus on pro-people initiatives, mega projects and providing relief to the masses.

Punjab Finance Minister Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman will present the budget for the coming fiscal year in the Punjab Assembly after its approval from the Punjab Cabinet.

According to the Punjab Finance Ministry’s spokesperson here on Wednesday, no new tax would be levied in the provincial budget; the Punjab government was only focusing on the recovery of taxes already levied to increase provincial resources.

“Proper utilisation of resources and government assets would be ensured,” spokesperson added.

“Education, health and social security would be the top priority of the government in the Punjab budget while mega projects would be implemented through public-private-partnership initiatives. Moreover, special attention would be given to industry and agriculture sectors; to increase productivity in the agricultural sector, the government would address the difficulties faced by the farmers,” spokesperson added.

To provide relief to the people, spokesperson said, subsidies would be given to the food and transport sector while easy availability of solar systems would be ensured so that the people could save on electricity bills. The ministry’s spokesperson added that an increase in the salaries of government employees would be seen in the budget.

On investment, the spokesperson said that both local and international investors would be given equal opportunities to invest in Punjab and was confident that huge investment would be seen in the information technology sector, which would play a vital role in the economic development of the province. The spokesperson added that the problems facing manufacturers and the grievances of the business community would be redressed.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024