The National Economic Council approved the development budget of 2709 billion rupees

Islamabad: The National Economic Council under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has approved the revised development budget for the financial year 2022-23. This year, the federal PSDP is 714 billion rupees, while the provincial development budget has been proposed to be 1598 billion rupees.

The meeting also approved the National Development Budget for the financial year 2023-24. The size of the national development budget for the next financial year will be 2709 billion rupees. In the overall development program, the federation will spend 1150 billion rupees, in which 200 billion rupees will be public-private partnership, while 950 billion rupees will be PSDP of the federation.

The overall development budget of the provinces will be 1559 billion rupees, the development budget of Punjab will be 426 billion rupees and that of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be 268 billion rupees for the next four months. Approved to keep Rs.

The development fund of the year 2023-24 has been increased by 17 percent compared to the current year, a total of 1182 schemes have been included in the development budget, including 311 new and 871 ongoing development schemes.

The meeting was also briefed on the 4RF project by the Federal Ministry of Planning. Under the project, a significant amount of money is being spent on reconstruction projects in the flood-affected areas. It is funded by Pakistan’s development partners, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank. And Islamic Development Bank is doing it.

The National Economic Council reviewed the overall economic situation of the country and made detailed consultations.

Welcoming the participants of the meeting, the Prime Minister said that the provinces are the units of the federation and the prosperity of Pakistan is not possible unless the provinces are prosperous.

The Prime Minister said that despite the limited economic resources, the government will fulfill the developmental demands of the provinces and ensure fair and transparent distribution of resources. In this regard, a committee was formed under the chairmanship of the Minister of Planning, which will ensure that no appropriation will be made in the funds received by the provinces, but the existing resources will be distributed to all the provinces in a fair and transparent manner according to their needs. To be distributed on the basis.

The Prime Minister further said that when the Muslim League-N left the government in 2018, the federal development budget was 1100 billion rupees, which was reduced to only 500 billion rupees in 2021. Despite the economic challenges, the government has once again increased the development budget to Rs 950 billion so that not only Pakistan develops but the fruits of this development reach the common man.

The National Economic Council also approved the 0.3 percent growth rate achieved this year and the growth rate target of 3.5 percent for the next financial year despite the economic problems left by the previous government and the historic floods in Pakistan.

The meeting was told that last year the total volume of the country’s economy was recorded at 847 trillion rupees, the overall investment rate in the country was 13.61 percent, while the target has been increased to 15 percent in the next financial year.

The Minister of Planning also gave a detailed briefing to the National Economic Council on the 5Es and said that by implementing this model, the size of Pakistan’s economy will reach 1000 billion dollars by 2035 and make it a major economic power. The annual growth rate will be 6.2 percent.

The National Economic Council also gave in-principle approval to “Pakistan Economic Outlook 2035”, the Ministry of Planning will prepare its vision document and strategy paper in consultation with provincial governments and other stakeholders.

The meeting was further informed that in the development budget of 2023-24 special focus is being given on infrastructure development, social sector, climate change prevention, world class education, information technology, agriculture development and energy sector innovation and reforms. .

The meeting also approved the annual program report of CWD and ECNIC from April 2022 to March 2023, in which the Federal Development Program (PSDP) is 714 billion rupees and the provincial annual development program is 1598 rupees. The meeting also approved special initiatives of the Prime Minister at a cost of 80 billion rupees, these initiatives include phased transition of tubewells to solar energy, provision of easy loans to youth for business, establishment of Pakistan Education Endowment Fund, IT Start. Apps, laptop schemes, youth skill training programs and venture capital promotion programs are included.

Apart from this, the National Economic Council was also briefed on the National Energy Saving Plan, which has already been approved by the Federal Cabinet. The participants of the meeting were told that by following these recommendations, in a short period of time, it will be possible to save 10-15%, i.e. more than one billion dollars, in the fuel import bill alone. On this occasion, the Provincial Governments were requested to play their role in the implementation of various aspects of the National Savings Plan and to contribute fully to this national duty.