LAHORE (Dunya News) - Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Wednesday that economic stability and development initiatives remain the provincial government's top priorities, crediting improved economic indicators to the policies of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Speaking at a post-budget press conference alongside Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman, Aurangzeb said the federal government's economic management had helped restore stability and create conditions for sustained growth.
She said the Punjab government had maintained fiscal discipline by controlling expenditures while continuing to invest in social sectors, including health, education and public welfare programmes. According to her, no cuts were made to key development and social-sector budgets.
Aurangzeb highlighted a significant rise in provincial revenues, saying Punjab's revenue collection had increased from Rs426 billion to Rs820 billion, while provincial tax revenue stood at Rs519 billion. She added that the government expanded the tax base without imposing new taxes.
The senior minister said the province had completed more than 125,000 homes under the "Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar" housing scheme and eliminated around 100,000 vacant government positions through rightsizing measures aimed at improving efficiency.
She also announced continued investment in public transport and infrastructure, including work on the Gujranwala and Faisalabad metro projects and the launch of a Rs5.4 billion programme to introduce 1,100 electric taxis.
Aurangzeb said the budget includes a Rs55 billion special development package for riverine areas, Rs100 billion for youth-focused initiatives, and Rs116 billion for the livestock and agriculture sectors.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said Punjab had delivered record development work over the past two and a half years and successfully completed projects announced in previous budgets. He added that the province plans to establish a unified tax collection authority on the model of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to streamline tax administration.
The minister said improved tax collection over the past two years had strengthened Punjab's fiscal capacity and enabled the government to fund development projects aimed at accelerating economic growth.