The thrust of the new federal budget is on growth, job creation, poverty alleviation and improving lot of the common man, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said Saturday while explaining the salient features of the budget 2016-17 to media during a post-budget news conference in Islamabad.
The finance minister pointed out that agriculture posted negative growth this year and with this in view, incentives were announced by the prime minister a few months back which would continue over the next year.
He expressed the confidence that the new measures announced in the budget would provide necessary boost to the agriculture sector and help it contribute its share to the GDP (gross domestic product). These measures include significant reduction in prices of fertilisers, he added.
The minister further said that price of urea fertiliser was brought down by Rs 250 a bag during the past few months, and now it was further reduced by Rs 400 a bag, adding that price of diammonium phosphate (DAP) area was also being reduced by Rs 300 per bag from the next month, July.
He further added that seven per cent duty on pesticides had been withdrawn, while off-peak rate of electricity for agricultural tube-wells had been lowered from Rs 8.85 per unit to Rs 5.35.
According to Dar, the country’s exports, which fell by 11 per cent during the ongoing fiscal year, was another area of concern for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government. He said that with a view to give further impetus to industrial growth, the government subjected import of machinery and raw material to three per cent duty which, according to him, is the lowest slab in the country. Similarly, he added, more credit was being made available to the private sector.
Acknowledging that taxes on some of the items would affect the masses, the finance minister said that every effort had been made in the budget not to put additional burden of taxes on filers.
About increase in tax on mobile phone sets, Dar said that costlier phones had been misdeclared as low category phones and taxes were being enhanced to compensate for this leakage.
He said that except the genuinely-needed SROs, others had been withdrawn with a cumulative impact of Rs 400 billion.
Referring to the Rs 1,675 billion development programme, Dar said this would further stimulate economy and create job opportunities. He further said the government had made efforts to keep inflation to single digit and alleviate poverty.
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Dar stated that allocations for the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) had also been increased to bring more families under it.
About allocation for the defence sector, the finance minister said that despite financial constraints, defence budget had been increased, and observed that the Operation Zarb-e-Azb was moving towards its final round and its successful conclusion would help attract foreign investment. The country suffered huge losses of $ 118 billion in the war on terror, he added.
The minister said that increase in non-development expenditure had also been contained to seven per cent.
About raise in salary of employees of the federal government, Dar said that public servants would get 10 per cent ad-hoc relief after merger of two previous reliefs, and as a result they would get about 13 to 13.5 per cent increase in salaries.
He said the government would be bearing expenditures of Rs 57 billion on account of increase in salaries and pensions. “Of this, an expenditure of Rs 12 billion will be spent on welfare of low-grade employees, including upgradation of their scales and increase in allowances meant for them,” he added.
About prices of petroleum products, the finance minister said the government had decided to keep prices of POL products unchanged for the ongoing month to provide relief to people during the auspicious month of Ramzan. He also said that out of five POL products, sales tax on four was now less than 17 per cent.
Dar, to a media query, said the government was according priority to construction of western route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as per an understanding with the political leadership. He also told reporters that the Lahore-Karachi Motorway was included in the CPEC, as no one was ready to undertake this project of Rs 300 billion on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.
An eminent English Daily of Karachi's Editorial says, the budget is without ideas. Ideas or no ideas, it is not a budget for any relief to a common man. The mission is to make every child more Qarazdar because the loans have trippled in three years and more loans to pay loans. But who pays ? The poor man on the street ! Ye Mr Dar (Sb) sirf 'pharen' marta hai !
So Munshi admits his son’s father in law the Prime Minister and he himself being the finance minister have brought Pakistan to near bankruptcy. He should now be Nabbed.
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