Summary He said the Emir of Qatar will be visiting Pakistan soon to further cement the existing relations.
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – Federal Minister for Planning and Development Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar said on Saturday that finance ministry has entered into an agreement of USD3.4 billion with the Asian Development Bank for budgetary support.
Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, he said a sum of USD2.1 billion will be released this year under the agreement.
Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar said 951 billion rupees have been allocated under public sector development program in the budget for next fiscal year including 251 billion rupees for promotion of public private partnership in business activities.
He said development of previously deprived and ignored areas is main focus of the government.
He said a sum of Rs73 billion has been allocated for development projects in erstwhile FATA in comparison with Rs34 billion in the previous budget.
The minister said Balochistan has a pivotal role in development strategy of incumbent government and development projects worth Rs76 billion will be started in various areas of the province.
Bakhtyar said projects worth Rs48 billion will be started and implemented in Southern Punjab, Southern KPK and interior Sindh to bring them at par with developed parts of the country.
The planning minister said the government has earmarked Rs34 billion for 45 development projects in Karachi.
He said as the federal capital is under the domain of federal government, new projects eight billion rupees will be started in the areas of health, education and infrastructure.
The planning minister said government has been taking serious steps to improve the power supply situation in the country and will invest on transmission, smart metering and other power related infrastructure. A sum of Rs80 billion has been allocated for the purpose.
He said government was committed to save water for the future of coming generations and has allotted a sum of Rs70 billion for Mohmand, Bhasha and Dasu dams.
Bakhtyar said agriculture has been given special focus in this budget with an enhanced allocation of Rs12 billion viz-a-viz Rs1 billion in the previous budget.
He said government is cognisant of the adverse impacts of climate change and has earmarked a sum of Rs9.5 billion under the clean green program.
The minister said a robust development package of Rs62 billion has been allocated for the development projects in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan.
He said an increased amount of Rs43 billion has been set aside in the budget for higher education and knowledge economy to start projects benefitting youth. He said under Hunarmand Naujwan program, a sum of ten billion rupees has been earmarked.
Replying to a question, he said foreign policy of the country is independent and there is no pressure whatsoever from any country on us.
He said the Emir of Qatar will be visiting Pakistan soon to further cement the existing brotherly relations between the two countries.
The minister told a questioner that under CPEC’s Western Corridor, work on Quetta-Zhob road has started while the work on Sukkur-Hyderabad on Eastern Corridor will be completed soon.
Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar said Rs80 billion has been spent on completion of Kacchi Canal project and eight billion rupees have been allocated on the project in the new budget.
