PESHAWAR - The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government will present its fifth consecutive and last budget with an expected Rs605 billion outlay here on Wednesday.

The government has allocated Rs208 billion for the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the fiscal year of 2017-2018.

Minister for Finance Muzaffar Said Advocate will unveil the budget, for which, the KP governor had already summoned the session of the provincial assembly.

It will be Muzaffar Said’s second budget as the earlier three budgets had been unveiled by Jamaat-e-Islami Chief Sirajul Haq, a coalition partner in the PTI government.

As per the KP chief minister, it would be a tax-free, balanced and pro-poor budget. He added that it would be a different from the budgets presented by the federal government as centre offered nothing for poor and gave incentives to the elite.

Official sources, however, said that there could be a slight re-adjustment in the provincial taxes, saying the next budget outlay is almost Rs100 billion more than the current, which is Rs505 billion.

They informed that some Rs 208 billion allocated for the ADP in the fiscal budget for the year 2017-18, of which, Rs 126 billion be provided by the provincial government and the remaining Rs 82 billion would be added by the foreign donors.

Moreover, the KP government would also take Rs 52 billion loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the execution of Peshawar Metro Bus project in the province.

Similarly, from the ADP, Rs 30 billion allocated for the district governments and the salaries of the government employees is expected to increase from 10 to 15 per cent.

The budget proposals contain an increase in ADP by Rs 47 billion as the provincial government is expected to receive Rs 81.99 billion from the foreign donors.

The budgetary documents revealed that the ADP would consist of 1,631 schemes comprising 1,182 ongoing and 449 new schemes.

Likewise, Rs 20.32 billion allocated for 141 schemes for higher and secondary education department, Rs 12 billion for 101 health projects, Rs 5. 16 billion for 84 schemes of public health engineering department, Rs 7.5 billion for 209 schemes irrigation projects, Rs 4.50 billion for 38 schemes of the local government and Rs 3.99 billion for 38 schemes in agriculture sector.

The Sehat Insaf Card scheme would continue in the next fiscal year as well and solarization of 4,000 mosques in the province also included in the budget proposals.

The KP government would also provide Rs30,000 monthly stipends to poets, writers, and artists of the province.

Likewise, 10 post graduate colleges would be established in the next fiscal, besides the completion of Peshawar Zoo and Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium.

Minister for Finance Muzaffar Said Advocate is expected to announce health insurance schemes for the government employees as well.