Punjab Government claims to close 2011-12 with surplus cash

Lahore:Punjab Government has closed the financial year 2011-12 with a surplus cash balance of Rs.2.5 billion and this surplus balance was achieved despite the fact that revenue collection of approximately Rs.100.0 billion reported by Federal Board of Revenue was not distributed by the Federal Government during the financial year 2011-12. A spokesman of finance department Government of Punjab said that this amount included Punjab Government’s share in excess of Rs.20.0 billion. He said that if this amount had also been released by the Federal Government, Punjab Government would have closed the financial year with the level of surplus expected of it by the Federal Government. The spokesman said that in any case the withheld amount of revenue was available in the federal exchequer; the surplus of over Rs.20 billion was contributed by Punjab Government although it was not reflected in the accounts. The spokesman further added that Punjab Government did not invest any of its funds in T-bills and there is no fiscal deficit of Rs. 12 billion by Punjab Government.