The Punjab Budget of Rs654 billion was presented by Kamaran Michael the first Christian member of provincial parliament to present the budget. However the opposition members stole the spotlight from Michael by snatching the budget speech from his hands and tearing it into pieces. The scuffle that broke out between the treasury benches and the opposition party just stopped short of a fist fight.
Prominent community members from the textile valley of Faisalabad have expressed their views on different aspects of the budget.
“I see nothing new in the budget”, said Mr. Zafar Iqbal Sarwar CEO of Messrs. ZIS Textile, expressing his disapproval. “With the coming of the annual budget the prices of goods and services will stabilize for some time”, he remarked. “This is a country where the prices are surging with every passing day”, he argued. “To me the announcement of annual budget is not more than a formality” he concluded. Agency for Sustainable Development’s Regional Director Amina Zaman has focused on the low level of tolerance prevalent in the corridors of power. “What we have witnessed on TV screens during the live transmission reflects our decaying social values”, she said. “Following similar ‘street scenes’ in the National Assembly, the prime minister had assured that his party would not repeat that episode in the Punjab assembly but the fact of the matter is that his party went one step further in settling the scores”, she regretted. Iftikhar Waraich, Managing Director of a private car show room has protested at the increase of annual token tax on all varieties of cars. “Automobile industry has been facing a lot of economic problem since almost two years, such as the rising values of foreign currencies, falling value of our rupee and slow economic growth”, he said. “The power cuts and double digit inflation compounded by natural calamities has already affected the automobile industry severely”, he explained. “The increase in token tax will decrease the sale of new and old cars and shoot up the cost of transportation, which is already increasing due to rising petrol prices”, he concluded. He said that people can afford the one-time cost of a car but they find it difficult to afford ancillary expenses like fuel and token tax.
Moeen Khan, a power loon entrepreneur says that there is a contradiction in the statements of the government officials. On one hand they say that they are going to present a tax-free budget but on the other hand the government has raised its own tax revenue target for the next financial year to Rs130-140 billion from Rs91 billion in the outgoing fiscal year. “It is obvious that the extra amount will come from the pockets of the people”, he protested.
“The Punjab government’s decision to spurn American aid in the wake of the May 2 Osama bin Laden operation and the continuing drone attacks is politically motivated. They want to get votes in next general elections”, said an NGO worker who did not want to be named. “How can a province having an external debt of more than Rs4 trillion in addition to internal loans of Rs76 billion subsist without a foreign aid”, he questioned. Here it is pertinent to note that the US government had pledged to provide $200 million to Punjab in three years for improving the municipal facilities and launching education projects in its under-developed southern region.
“Punjab Chief Minister despite all his austerity campaign has allocated an extra 12 per cent increase in non-development expenditure that could have been avoided due to the ongoing cash crunch”, said an analyst.
