ISLAMABAD – The National Assembly was told on Friday that the overall fiscal deficit of the country during the first half of the current fiscal year (July -December 2010) has mounted to Rs 491 billion. In a written reply, the Finance Ministry also informed the house that the government from March 2008 to December 2010 had borrowed Rs 1.1 trillion from the State Bank and other scheduled banks.
“The interest paid by government on loans (borrowing from banks) during the year 2010-11 (upto December, 2010) amounted to Rs 170 billion,” the ministry said in the reply. The National Assembly was also informed that Rs. 300 billion had been transferred to provinces after the announcement of 7th National Finance Commission Award. Responding to questions in the house, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue, Hina Rabbani Khar told the house.
While answering to a supplementary question raised by MNA Kashmala Tariq about more than five billion alleged corruption in Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the minister said that massive reshuffling in FBR was a step to eliminate corruption and an inquiry was also underway to ascertain the fact.
MQM MNA, Abdul Rashid Godil questioned the printing Rs 1500 billion in currency notes. In his supplementary question, he questioned Hina Rabbain Khar to why government not imposing tax on transport sector, that currently paying almost 1 percent in tax. The state minister said that step would be taken to impose taxes on transporters and matter should thoroughly be discussed in finance committee meeting.
Responding to a supplementary question, Minister for Labour and Manpower Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah said that inquiry was being conducted against those who didn’t comply with the Supreme Court’s order of for selling sugar at Rs 40. He said that currently government had 0.45 million tones of sugar hence there was no need to import the commodity. He told the House that the exports had increased by twenty-four per cent during the last six months and it was expected that the exports would touch $ 22 billion dollars in the current fiscal year.
To a question, he said that the remittances from overseas Pakistanis had also registered significant increase than last three years. Interior Minister Rehman Malik told the Assembly that the government had intensified efforts to ensure safety of the people by overcoming terrorist activities. He said that for the protection of the lives and property of the citizen a special project ‘safe city’ had been launched which would be extended to other major cities as well.
Responding a question Rehman Malik said the government had launched crackdown against the culprits involved in human trafficking and so far arrested over five thousand persons including 12 most wanted culprits.
