'Poor-friendly' Punjab budget on June 17

LAHORE — The Punjab finance minister has said the provincial budget 2008-09 would be presented in the Punjab Assembly on June 17 and the government has decided to provide targeted subsidies on food items, agriculture and to the industry.
Tanvir Ashraf Kaira also disclosed the government has decided to enhance the transfer fees on the sale and purchase of the land besides property tax to collect sufficient revenue during the next fiscal year. He said that the tax collection system would be made transparent and the powers of collectors and inspectors would be curtailed.
"We have decided to give subsidy on flour, ghee and pulses in order to provide relief to the poor in the upcoming budget. The concerned departments are developing a mechanism in this regard," he said while talking to reporters.
Kaira said that the government would provide subsidy on fertilizers, seeds and electricity to the farmers boost the agriculture and to cut down the agricultural input cost.
He said that the government would also give subsidy on the flour, ghee and pulses to provide cheap food to the poor and the government departments have been directed to develop a proper mechanism in this regard. He further said that the industrial sector would be provided land on lease in order to reduce the cost of doing business during the next fiscal year. He also claimed that the budget would be poor-friendly.