Budget ignored salaried class, says Rabbani

ISLAMABAD: Former Senate chairman and PPP leader Raza Rabbani has said the federal government has expressed its inability to provide relief to heavily-burdened tax payers from the salaried class or support health and education sectors because of limited fiscal space.

“Yet the federal government does not disclose the list of powerful individuals exempted or under-taxed, who continue to be sacred cows,” he said while commenting on the budget for the next fiscal in a statement on Friday. He termed the budget an IMF-motivated document which ignored the working class of Pakistan and said the Finance minister said nothing about tackling poverty in his budget speech. The entire budget document lays emphasis on growth and economic stability, but made no mention of 11 million Pakistanis living below the poverty line. “This shows that the priorities of the federal government are tilted towards protecting the ruling elite in comparison to the working class,” he said.

Rabbani said the privatization of strategic assets such as the PIA and airports were unconstitutional as approval of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) was not taken. It is incorrect for the federal government to say that it does not recognize the concept of strategic assets.