ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb announced a health insurance scheme for journalists and media workers while presenting the Federal Budget 2024-25 in the National Assembly on Wednesday.
According to him, 5,000 journalists and media workers would be given health insurance under the scheme, while 10,000 more would get the facility under its second phase.
The Finance Minister lauded Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for resuming health insurance for the scheme while assuming the charge of premiership for the second time.
The minister congratulated the Minister for Information, Broadcasting, National Heritage and Culture and his team for their contribution in the relaunch of the scheme.
The Finance Minister unveiled the Rs 18.877 trillion relief-oriented federal budget for the fiscal year 2024-25. He said that the GDP growth target for the fiscal year 2024-25 is fixed at 3.6 percent, whereas the inflation rate is likely to remain at 12 percent.
He said that the budget deficit to GDP during the period under review is estimated at 6.9 percent, whereas the primary surplus during the review period is projected at 1.0 percent of the GDP.
He said that the Revenue collection of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is estimated to be Rs12,970 billion during the upcoming financial year, saying that tax revenue collection during the current fiscal year grew by 38 percent and the provincial share would be Rs7,438 billion.
He said that the non-tax revenue targets of the federation are fixed at Rs3,587 billion, whereas the net income of the federal government would be Rs9,119 billion.
The total expenditures of the federal government are estimated at Rs18,877 billion out of the total amount of Rs9,775 billion would be spent on interest payments.
The government has allocated Rs1,400 billion for the Public Sector Development Program in its current budget, adding that an additional amount of Rs100 billion would be allocated under Public Private Partnership, he added.
This year, he claimed, over all development budget was the highest in the country’s history comprising Rs1,500 billion. The minister said that the government would provide Rs2,122 billion for defence, and Rs839 billion would be allocated for Civil Administration.
Meanwhile, an amount of Rs1,014 billion has been allocated for pension expenses, saying that Rs1,363 billion is allocated for the subsidy of the gas and other sectors.
The Minister said that a Rs4 billion allocation was made for ‘e-bikes’ and another Rs2 billion for energy-saving fans that promote energy conservation in the country.
