‘Govt gives relief of Rs1,184 bn but imposes Rs1,400 bn taxes’

ISLAMABAD: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah and PTI parliamentarian Asad Umar, while taking part on the Finance Bill, said that the government gave relief of Rs1,184 billion but imposed Rs1,400 billion taxes. They challenged the government’s claims of presenting relief-oriented budget, saying that instead of widening the tax net, the already taxpayers were being over-burdened.

Ridiculing the federal budget presented by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, the opposition leader said the government presented such excellent budgetary proposals that might have filled stomachs of people and they had stopped eating anymore.

He said the government was giving an impression that it had provided relief to the masses but the fact was that the rulers had not even fulfilled the promises made in the manifesto saying they should be tried under the Criminal Act.

Khursheed Shah, while criticising the government’s budget proposals, said the common man would have to pay Rs300 billion taxes including increase in petroleum levy, which would directly hit the poor. “The government is neither ready to impose tax on the rich class nor it wants to expand the tax net,” he said.

The opposition leader regretted that there were only 1.2 million taxpayers in Pakistan while 2.7 million people in Bangladesh having population of 170 million had been brought into the tax net. He pointed out that according to a survey conducted by the PPP government, at least three million people could be brought into the tax net. He also pointed out that the foreign investors whose confidence had been shattered was not ready to invest in Pakistan while over two billion dollars had been taken out of the country.

Khursheed Shah also regretted low attendance of cabinet members in the House in the presence of the prime minister. “For the first time in the parliamentary history, only two ministers are sitting in the House in the presence of the prime minister,” he said. The opposition leader said perhaps the ministers were not ready to accept Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as Prime Minister. “Everybody will have to accept Shahid Khaqan as prime minister,” he said.

He emphasised the need for enhancing the tax to GDP ratio and bringing the affluent class into the tax net, saying it would help reduce the burden of taxes on low income groups. The opposition leader said the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is an important institution and proposed its chairman should be appointed through parliament to improve its performance and efficiency saying the exercise of preparing budget proposals through section officers should be stopped.

Khursheed Shah pointed out that decreasing exports and dwindling foreign exchange reserves pose a challenge to the economy. He suggested all the political parties should sit together and formulate a consensus economic policy to steer the country on the path of sustainable development. ”It is our collective responsibility to give such programmes which may strengthen the economy, its youth and the institutions,” he said.

Disagreeing with gthe overnment’s figures regarding GDP growth and foreign investment, Asad Umar of PTI said the current tax system was further pushing the people into extreme poverty saying that direct taxes had been reduced from 1.8 percent to 1.3 percent while the indirect taxes had been increased from 8.5 percent to 10.35 percent. He said high gas and power tariffs have reduced the productivity and competiveness of our industrial and agriculture sectors. As a result of which, Asad Umar said our trade deficit is increasing.

He said agriculture is the backbone of economy and small farmers should be given low interest loans. Asad Umar said the federal budget was presented by an unelected finance minister while disrespecting sanctity of vote and Miftah Ismail was preferred to Rana Muhammad Afzal. “He (Miftah Ismail) should have spoken the truth while giving budgetary figures,” he said. He said the loan of organisations running in deficit had increased from Rs400 billion to Rs1,200 while without caring for mandate of auditor general, the government paid Rs480 billion as circular debt whereas there is no mention of the same figure in economic survey. He said that refund of Rs400 billion to exporters was also not mentioned in the economic survey.

Asad regretted that the rich class had been benefitted and they had been given the message that they could whiten their black money on payment of 2 percent tax. He pointed out that as no foreign investor was coming, the investment to GDP ratio remained as low as 15.5 percent.

The PTI parliamentarian said there has been a record increase of 33 billion dollars in foreign debts during the last five years of the PML-N government while during Asif Zardari’s tenure, the foreign loans increased by 17 billion dollars. “The government is compromising on the country’s security and integrity while getting foreign loans,” he said.

Similarly, Asad Umar said the domestic loans also increased by Rs12,000 billion during the PML-N period as compared to Rs10,000 billion increase during tenure the PPP government.

Naeema Kishwar Khan of JUI-F appreciated the steps announced by the government in the budget for the development of agriculture and industrial sectors. She said it is also important to introduce an interest free banking and economic system in the country. She said special attention should be given to the reconstruction of tribal areas. During her speech, the JUI-F member regretted low attendance in the House saying it seems that all the PTI parliamentarians had walked out.

In his remarks, Lal Chand Malhi said that debt servicing will consume most of the budget expenditure while little will be left to carry out development work. He also criticised the government for not increasing the minimum wage. Aasiya Nasir of JUI-F said salaries of employees should be enhanced by 20 percent keeping in view the price hike. Hamid-ul-Haq of PTI regretted that no allocations had been made in the budget for exploiting hydel potential of the country. Khalil George of PML-N said all political parties should get united to cope with the challenges faced by the country. He said that funds should also be allocated for welfare of minorities.