ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has said that the government would give incentives to industries and agriculture sector in the upcoming budget for fiscal year 2015-16.
The minister, while talking to the media, said that the country would achieve 5.5% growth in the new fiscal year and would hit 6-6.5% and 7.5% growth rates in the next two years.
Ahsan said that Rs2,250 billion taxes were collected last year, while Rs1,400 billion was spent on foreign debt servicing and Rs850 billion on defence and security budget. He explained that this year the government was trying to increase foreign currency reserves up to $20 billion.
About employment, he said that the country needs 1.5 million new jobs every year, but the government alone cannot create so many jobs and the private sector is being encouraged to create jobs.
The minister said that the government had given priority to the construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam and decided to allocate funds for the project, which would be completed in 10 to 12 years.
