The controversy triggered over finalization of macroeconomic figures is likely to delay the presentation of next federal budget till the first week of June, said an official, requesting anonymity. Budget was to be presented on May 25th this month but due to controversy triggered over rebasing date is create fear of delaying the presentation of federal budget till first week of June. According to sources familiar with the matter told Online Saturday that Finance Ministry has also sought one week delay in presenting the federal budget while citing delay in budget making process. “Federal Minister for Finance and Deputy Chairman Planning Commission had expressed their displeasure over the National Accounts Committee’s decision for approving GDP growth rate at 3.2 per cent,” said the official, adding that due to these angry economic managers the National Accounts Committee’s approved decisions had revived in the meeting of the Governing Council of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) which was held on May 04. The Meeting of National Accounts Committee (NEC) was held last month on April 26 and approved Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth figure at 3.2 per cent. A meeting of the Governing Council of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) was held on 4th May, under the chairmanship of the Minister for Finance Dr.Abdul Hafeez Sheikh. In the meeting the Members of the Council raised many observations and concerns regarding the methodology, the quality of primary data base on various sectors of the economy, analytical framework and the restructuring steps taken by PBS to adjust the GDP of the past 10 years. The Council also expressed concerns on lack of adequate consultations with stakeholders including academia and multilaterals on the technical aspects prior to taking rebasing data to the National Accounts Committee as was done during the previous rebasing exercise.
