Budget blues

This refers to the article, ‘Expectations from the new budget’ (May 21) by Khalique Zuberi. All eyes are set on the coming budget. Will the budget be the usual stereotypical ritual or will it provide a radically different roadmap to jumpstart the economy? However, the vibes being received from Islamabad on these counts do not sound good.
The FBR will be assigned a target of Rs3.10 trillion for the next fiscal year as against a target of Rs2.80 trillion and the revised target of Rs2.60 trillion for the current fiscal year. If the stuck-up refunds are taken into account, the collection for this year is expected to be in the region of Rs2.40 trillion. The agriculture income will continue to remain outside the ambit of tax. Despite repeated promises of enlarging the tax base, the number of active taxpayers has actually shrunk in the last two years. Both current and development expenditures are expected to increase significantly. This will leave a yawning budget deficit that will be bridged – as before – by domestic borrowings, external financing and through the sale of profitable entities. For the common man there is no hope of anything better.
Arif Majeed
Karachi