Budget 2021-22: KMC approves PKR 26 billion tax-free budget
Wednesday June 30, 2021
Karachi: Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) administrator Laeeq Ahmed on Tuesday approved PKR 26 billion development budget that includes no new taxes, news sources reported. The budget approved for the fiscal year 2021-22 amounts to PKR 25,982.414 million, with a surplus of PKR 11.947 million, as the estimated expenditures are summed at PKR 25,970.467 million. According to Karachi’s administrator, the KMC budget has allotted additional funds for the construction of initiatives that benefit the general population. Existing and new infrastructure projects such as parks, roads, sports complexes, and public space are prioritised, while non-development budgets are kept to a minimum. Furthermore, he stated that with the approval of the new budget, 200 initiatives launched in the last fiscal year – under the Annual Development Projects – would be prioritised and work on these projects will be completed as soon as possible. While discussing the city administration’s revenue streams, he stated that the revenue generation occurs largely through the collection of Octroi Zilla Tax (OZT), and the budget allocations by the provincial governor as a grant-in-aid of PKR 15.07 billion, while the district ADP is also expected to collect more than PKR 5 billion. Mr Ahmad stated that the city administration is interested in providing recreational activities to the residents of Karachi through the construction of the zoo, the Hill Park, the Kidney Hill Park, and Bagh Ibne Qasim, as well as 45 other KMC parks.
