KARACHI: Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the budget for the next financial year of the province would be impacted by coronavirus, with health sector as the foremost priority.
Presiding over a meeting on the budget for the fiscal year 2020-21, CM Sindh said that “A new strategy has been worked out to devise the forthcoming budget to deal with the impact of coronavirus, priority will be given to health services, employment generation, social security, and innovation in education sector”.
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The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Finance Secretary Hassan Naqvi and other officials concerned.
CM expressed that the coronavirus emergency indicators such as increase in expenditures, decrease in government revenues, decline in exports, unemployment and loss of purchasing power were horrible and needed to be addressed with a new strategy.
He asserted that the first and top priority would be given to strengthen the health systems under which Covid-19 emergency hospitals would be established.
“We are already building a coronavirus emergency centre in NIPA and similar facilities will be developed in all divisional headquarters,” he told the meeting, adding that the government would also invest in equipping hospitals with all necessary equipment.
CM observed that various sectors, including small and medium-enterprises (SMEs), agriculture, livestock, and poultry, had been crumbling under a financial crunch following the lockdown and hence, soft loans and subsidies would be provided to them.
He said that investment would be made in the agriculture sector where soft loans for purchasing export quality seeds and urea would be advanced so that export quality rice, pulses and other crops could be cultivated.
He said that short-term loans of up to Rs500,000 would be issued to small businesses, in addition to Rs2 million worth of loans for medium-sized enterprises.
Also, loans will also be issued for the purchase of export quality seeds, diammonium phosphate fertilizer and urea on subsidy, so that export-quality rice, pulses and other crops can be cultivated, the CM added.
While directing the agricultural department to guide growers to switch to seasonal crops, new cash crops and export-oriented crops to revive themselves as well as the agro economy, he added that the livestock & fisheries department would also be activated to help the people engaged in livestock and fisheries sectors.
Elaborating the government’s plan to enhance education system, CM said that his government would introduce new modes of teaching amid the pandemic, stating that Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani had been instructed to work out a detailed plan for online learning and offline classes so that funds could be appropriated for the purpose in the next budget.
Moreover, he announced advancing interest-free loans to entrepreneurs for starting their own businesses under a poverty alleviation programme and providing technical assistance to the entrepreneurs under the programme, in which women would be prioritized.
