Lahore: The Government of Punjab on Monday announced allocating funds worth PKR 337 billion to the Annual Development Programme (ADB) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020-21 — specifically geared towards achieving economic progress in wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to news sources. The said ADB budgetary allocation is reportedly 9.42% higher than that of last year (PKR 308 billion).
The provincial budget documents reveal that 29% of these funds will be utilised for the social sector, 23% will be used for infrastructure development, 15% for miscellaneous initiatives, 14% for the special initiatives, 13% for the services sector and 5% for the production sector.
Moreover, 35% of the total ADP this year has been earmarked for the 11 districts of south Punjab ‘to uplift the living standards of residents of the area as well as to improve the socio-economic indicators’. The government has also allocated PKR 11.86 billion for 1, 348 schemes of water supply and sanitation. Additionally, PKR 2.5 billion have been separately allocated to Punjab Abe-Pak Authority.
As per reports, the government has also earmarked PKR 47 billion for the Punjab Economic Stimulus Programme which is aimed at facilitating economic growth and battle the health crises — as anti-COVID-19 measures. Of these funds, PKR 30 billion will be given to small works programmes to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for citizens. Following that, PKR 8 billion will be given to support skill training initiatives and Micro Small Medium Enterprise (MSME). The remaining PKR 9 billion will be used to develop the Communicable Disease Programme.
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