Prime Minister Imran Khan announced an extension in the billion rupees construction package for one-year to facilitate the construction sector, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
He described it a new year gift for the construction sector which was the key to offset the negative impact of Covid19 pandemic on the national economy.
Prime Minister Khan also extended the date for disclosures of the source of income by the investors till June 30, 2021 and the one for buyers till March 31, 2023.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said the government has given a package for the construction sector, the TV channel reported. “Rs186 billion construction projects have been registered with Federal Board of Revenue FBR,” he added.
“Punjab has started 163 billion projects in Punjab while projects worth Rs133 billion are yet to be approved in Punjab,” he further added.
“The banking sector will provide Rs378 billion for the construction sector,” the Prime Minister Imran Khan said.
The premier said it was the first time when banks will provide finance on small sized houses and only five percent markup to be given on 5marla houses, the prime minister said.
“We are building master plans for the megacities as cities expansion pose food security issues in cities. All records will be digitized for Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad by August,” the prime minister said while addressing the nation on Thursday to brief about the billion-dollar construction package.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has said new master plans of all big cities of Pakistan will be prepared to prevent the unplanned spread of urbanization and to protect agricultural land.
He said the unplanned spread of cities can create food security problems for Pakistan in future if this practice is continued unabated.
The Prime Minister said economic activities of around 1,500 billion rupees will be started in Punjab only and will generate around 250,000 jobs as a result of the massive package announced by the government for the construction sector.
Khan said the government has increased the fixed tax regime by December 31, 2021. The Prime Minister said the government has decided to uplift the textile sector.
He said an automated approval regime has been introduced in the federal capital, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for speedy approval to start a housing project.
He said land digitization in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad will be completed by August next year. Besides, the record of state land in these cities is also being completed on a priority basis.
The Prime Minister said the government will fully back the construction sector and encourage wealth creation so that we can generate jobs for our youth and payback our debt. He said it is a good sign that record sale of cement and steel has been witnessed, which shows boom in the construction sector.
It is pertinent to note that this year in July, Pakistani Prime Minister announced a big incentive package for the construction industry that includes a subsidy of Rs30 billion for the Naya Pakistan Housing Project (NPHP).
The package was introduced to mitigate the adverse impact of the coronavirus on the country’s economy, according to the package people investing in the construction industry would not be asked about their sources of income.
As per the package, the ruling PTI government also reduced the number of NOCs [no objection certificates] and made a one-window operation in all the provinces to facilitate the business fraternity who wanted to invest in the construction sector.