Increased revenue, better tax transfers bridged budget deficit: Ehsan

Balochistan Minister for Finance Syed Ehsan Shah said that the provincial government had been able to overcome the budget deficit of the fiscal year 2006-07 due to improvement in the provincial revenue collection and better transfer of funds from the Federal government and hoped that the wide gap between the revenue and expenditure in the new budget would also be bridged in similar way.
He was addressing post-budget press briefing here Friday. Referring to increase in the non-development expenditure, he said that the current expenditure would naturally increase after employment against newly created 3272 posts and another twenty thousand posts lying vacant in different departments. He disclosed that some 10,000 posts of teachers alone remained unfilled because of various reasons.
He said the provincial government's dependence on overdrafts from the State Banks has been reduced and hoped that the situation would further improve in the coming fiscal year and the government would be able to finance the development schemes from improved provincial revenue collection instead of borrowing from the State Bank.
To a question he said that there were only 48 pharmacists working in health department since the B. Pharmacy course was introduced in the Balochistan University back in seventies, but the present government has decided to absorb 200 more vacancies in the new budget in order to provide jobs to unemployed graduates. Besides, he pointed out, the present government had so far recruited 1200 doctors, 800 agriculture graduates and 500 engineers during the past four years.
Syed Ehsan Shah replying to another question said that the provincial financial resources would increase after Rikodik Copper projects goes into operation in which the provincial government enjoys 25 percent equity in it. The provincial government has 10 percent equity in Daddar Zinc-Lead project, which would be put into commission during the current calendar year. In addition to this, revenue would also be generated from agriculture when the Kachhi canal project is completed. The provincial government has as a matter of policy decided that it would demand equity from the investors in mineral projects.
He expressed his optimism about the future development of the province through agriculture, mineral development and fisheries. Replying to a question, he said that a Russian company would provide training to the local fishermen of the Mekran coast that would increase fish production for export and also contribute towards provincial exchequer.