MIRPUR (AJK) - A financial expert and economist welcomed the Rs108.02 billion AJK budget for the fiscal year 2017-18 announced on Monday.
He described it as balanced, development-oriented and supportive of the overall socio-economic uplift of the State.
“This is a people-friendly and broad-based budget inked by the PML-N government,” observed Ch Sohaib Saeed, the local business tycoon and former president of AJK Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Sohaib said while talking to the media here the other day that it was a balanced budget as at on one hand it had been tried to alleviate poverty and unemployment by raising the minimum salaries of the working class/labourers. Moreover, 10 percent increase in salaries of the government employees as well as the pensioners has also been made. Through the growth orientation, AJK would, indeed, be put on path to speedy progress and prosperity by enhancing the progress of various public-sector organisations including the nation-building institutions.
Describing it a second historical budget tabled by the incumbent PML-N-led AJK regime, Sohaib Saeed highly appreciated the high and great gesture shown by the government of Pakistan through doubling the funds in the new fiscal year AJK budget, similar to that of last year, for the annual development expenditures for Azad Jammu Kashmir. Appreciating various salient features, Sohaib Saeed continued that the AJK government had focused on the uplift of the basic infra structure in the budget to benefit all sectors of life.
He underlined that it was for the first time in the history of AJK that a Rs82.70 billion had been placed as the development expenditures for ongoing fiscal year of 2018-19. Whereas it also contains Rs25.50 billion as development expenditures which also included Rs1.80 billion foreign financial relief, he underlined.
He stated that incentives to the prospective investors may attract huge investment in the industrial sector. This, he hoped, may help address the issues of unemployment and additional revenue generation through launching of various development projects in trade, industrial and hydropower sectors for the overall socio economic progress of the liberated territory.