Marble city to be set up in Risalpur: Omar Ayub

A marble city will be established in Risalapur, NWFP, with the assistance of NWFP government, Minister of State for Finance Omar Ayub Khan has said.
Omar Ayub told a regional language TV Channel that during the last four year Rs 61 billion have been spent in NWFP, Rs 69 billion in Public, Rs 78 billion in Sindh while Rs 90 billion in Balochistan in Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
The minister said the provinces' share in National Finance Commission (NFC) awards have been increased to 46 percent and it will reach to 50 percent in the coming years. He said industrial sector is flourishing which would result in more employment opportunities.
"The increase in the minimum wage in the budget Rs 4,600 per month and the establishment of 5,000 more utility stores are the right steps to alleviate poverty in the country," he said. Omar Ayub claimed that industrial growth resulted in creation of more than 250,000 job opportunities in motorcycle industry, 90,000 job opportunities in information technology and 36,000 in banking sector during the last five years.
"Light engineering industry in particular is boosted and Pakistan is now becoming exporter in motorcycle industry," the minister claimed in an interview with a private Pashto TV channel.
Former finance minister Sartaj Aziz and former president of Sarhad Chambers of Commerce and Industries Ghulam Sarwar also participated in the programme. Answering a question regarding slow industrial growth in NWFP, Omar Ayub said the province is lacking human resource development capacity. He said the provincial government is not investing much in human resource development and technical education.
Former finance minister Sartaj Aziz said that 15 percent increase in salaries and some subsidies are because this is election year and the government is need of public support. He said if there are some subsidies to provide relief to people then there are even more costs due to high inflation rate.
Sartaj Aziz said more costs result in deficit for the government which subsequently result in bank borrowing and increase in non-development expenditures, and therefore, inflation cannot be controlled due to these problems.
He said food inflation in last year rose to 10 to 11 percent while the overall food inflation during the last three years was 40 percent. He said only 5 to 6 percent people have access to utility stores. While stressing for more provincial autonomy the former minister criticised the government for not resolving the NFC awards issue.
Sartaj Aziz said due to centralised system, small provinces are having little role policy formulation. Former president of Sarhad Chambers of Commerce and Industries Ghulam Sarwar stressed for industrial growth through diversification in this sector.