Budget 2018-19 to help boost GDP growth rate: Ahsan Iqbal

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior, and Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal on Friday said the federal budget 2018-19 presented by Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail was a balanced one and it would help boosting the country's economic growth rate.

In a statement issued here, the minister said the government had managed to achieve the all time high growth rate of 5.8 percent in 13 years.

He said the government had no choice to present a budget of four months as by doing so the country's economy would have been in the doldrums.

The minister said the government had left a space of Rs 100 billion in the Public Sector Development Programme for the next government which would implement projects of its own choice.

He expressed his confidence that the Pakistan Muslim League-N would again win next general elections and would follow its economic policies in its next five years term.

He said the government had proposed to allocate record Rs 47 billion for the development projects of Higher Education Commission (HEC).