ISLAMABAD: The government is finding fair amount of difficulties in fulfilling its upcoming constitutional obligations in the wake of prevailing uncertainty due to coronavirus outbreak including outlining and tabulation of budgets of national as well provinces for next year.
The report based on assessment submitted in the apex court regarding the spread of coronavirus didn’t hint about the possible fiscal steps to deal with a situation, but promulgation of financial emergency could be one possibility if the assessment proved accurate down the line in three to four weeks as the whole business activities have already been hampered badly.
Highly placed sources told The News here Saturday that budgets are required to be ready for putting up in the respective legislatures within eight to nine weeks and in normal course it takes six to eight weeks for its formulation but in the absence of definite guidelines from the high ups, finance ministries of the federal and provincial governments will fail to tabulate most important financial document of the year before the deadline.
The sources said that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) despite enormous logistic difficulties is busy in devising the outlines of the budget but allocation of resources for different subjects has become a problematic job, the sources said. The available figures about the revenue collection aren’t encouraging and it appears that the revised downwards targets determined for the fiscal years wouldn’t be possible to attain. The National Assembly that had to yet go in session for fifty more days to complete its minimum mandatory days wouldn’t be able to do the needful till August when the parliamentary year will be ending.
The House which was last summoned to continue till March 20th but it was prorogued on 13th of March. It is unlikely that the National Assembly will have its sitting during the current month since the assembly of the people has been declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO) extremely injurious for the efforts to control the coronavirus.
The sources reminded that the budgets could be enforced through the presidential/governor’s ordinances while the shortage in mandatory days of the assemblies could be condoned by the Constitution that says in its Article 254 reads as “Failure to comply with requirement as to time does not render an act invalid. When any act or thing is required by the Constitution to be done within a particular period and it is not done within that period, the doing of the act or thing shall not be invalid or otherwise ineffective by reason only that it was not done within that period.”
The sources reminded that above article will also be applicable if the budget documents are issued through ordinances. The government and opposition that will have informal meeting during 25-member Parliament Joint Committee for coronavirus tomorrow (Monday) in the Constitution Room of the Parliament House will also discuss ensuing difficulties regarding budget session and other constitutional issues, the sources added.