ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Sunday approved the Federal Budget 2023/24 by a majority vote after making amendments to it in a last-ditch effort to secure the IMF deal.
The clause-wise approval was sought of the Financial Bill in the assembly.
In the budget, the tax collection target was increased from Rs9,200 to Rs9,415 billion, while the pension payment was increased from Rs761 billion to Rs801 billion. Rs215 billion new taxes were imposed under the Finance Bill through further amendment.
Under the National Finance Commission, instead of Rs5,276 billion, Rs5,390 billion will be received. The BISP program was increased to Rs466 billion instead of Rs459 billion and the federal development budget will be Rs950 billion.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar presented an amendment to the Petroleum Development Levy Ordinance which was approved by the National Assembly by a majority vote.
In the amendment, the petroleum development levy limit was increased from Rs50 per liter to Rs60 per liter. Now, the federal government will have the power to impose PDL up to Rs60 per litre.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s Clause 3 in the Finance Bill was approved after an amendment.
According to the amendment, a 3-member committee will be formed to resolve disputes including 62,000 pending cases of Rs3,200 billion.
The FBR will not be able to file an appeal against the decision of the committee, but the aggrieved party will have the right to approach the court.
Ishaq Dar while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly said that the issue of pension was the biggest challenge for the government.
“Changes in pension laws are necessary. One person is entitled to one pension [only],” he stated.
“It was a huge burden on the poor country. In the recent budget, the pension bill went up to Rs800 billion,” he added.
During the National Assembly session, Federal Minister Ghous Bux Mahar said: “Pakistan is the only country where subsidy to the agriculture sector is being withdrawn.”
He added: “The agriculture sector, which is the backbone of the economy, should be protected. It is necessary to give subsidy to this sector.”
PPP leader Khurshid Shah backed the demand of Ghous Bux Mahar.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that after the budget meeting on the issue of agriculture, the issues would be resolved with mutual consultation.
Under the budget, the IT and IT-enabled service providers have been allowed to import software and hardware equal to one percent of their exports without any tax. The limit of these imports will be $50,000 annually.
Rs10 billion have been earmarked for the Prime Minister’s Youth Business and Agriculture Loans scheme.
The budget also includes 35 percent ad-hoc relief allowance for the employees of grade 1 to 16, while 30 percent ad hoc relief for the employees of scale 17 and above. The pension has been increased by 17.50 percent. The minimum wage has been increased to Rs32,000 from Rs25,000.
Besides, Rs1,804 billion have been set aside for defence affairs and services.
The House also passed “The Election (Amendment) Bill, 2023” to further amend the Election Act 2017.
The bill has already been passed by the Senate.
Opposition member Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali also presented an amendment which was accepted and the government did not oppose his amendment. Under the amendment, the Chairman Standing Committee will be authorized to use a 1200cc vehicle. Earlier, 1300cc to 1600cc vehicles were allowed.
Except Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, the sole member of Jamaat-i-Islami in the National Assembly, all the government and opposition members opposed taking the opinion of the Islamic Ideological Council on the Finance Bill due to the inclusion of interest in the financial plan.
Maulana Chitrali, on the other hand, demanded that the Finance Bill be sent to the Islamic Ideological Council to review it under the Islamic injunctions.
NA opposes sending Finance Bill to IIC
The National Assembly, by a majority vote, opposed the motion to send the Finance Bill 2023 to the Council of Islamic Ideology.
Speaker National Assembly held a voting on sending the Finance Bill to Islamic Ideological Council for opinion.
The anti-usury government coalition party JUI also opposed sending the finance bill to the Islamic Ideological Council, while the government coalition parties and the opposition parties also opposed sending the finance bill to the Islamic Ideological Council.
Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, the only member of JI, voted in favor of sending the Finance Bill to the IIC.
Tax on old fans, bulbs
Moreover, an amendment to levy additional taxes on old technology fans and bulbs was also approved.
Fans with old technology will be taxed at Rs2,000 from January 1, while old bulbs will be taxed at 20 percent from January 1.
Nine amendments presented
A total of nine amendments to the Finance Bill 2023/24 were presented. Eight amendments were presented by the government and one amendment was suggested by the opposition.
After the approval of the budget, the House was adjourned to meet again on the 17th of the next month at 5 pm.
Earlier on Saturday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that the federal government had introduced a number of changes to its fiscal year 2024 budget in a last-ditch effort to clinch a stalled rescue package with the IMF.
“Pakistan and the IMF had detailed negotiations as a last effort to complete the pending review,” he said while addressing the National Assembly.
“For the fiscal year starting next month, the federal government will raise a further Rs215 billion in new tax and cut Rs85bn in spending, as well as a number of other measures to shrink the fiscal deficit,” he said.
“For the past few months, the nation has been questioning whether the IMF’s ninth review would be successful or not,” he said, adding that he wanted to take the people into confidence on the matter.
He said that the government had completed all prior actions and achieved compliance on the Fund’s demand, but Pakistan’s case could not be put in front of it due to the external financing gap.
Dar said that it had been decided between Pakistan and the IMF for a “last final push” to move the review forward, following which detailed negotiations were held with an IMF delegation in the last three days to complete the ninth review.
He also told the National Assembly that the government had implemented various reforms in the pensions scheme. “One decision is to eliminate multiple pensions, ensuring that a government official will receive only one pension for officials in Grades 17 and above in the first phase,” he said.
“Besides, when calculating the pension amount, the ad hoc pension allowance will be included as part of the net pension without compounding. The pensioner will opt for the highest amount of pension,” he added.
He said that high-profile people in Pakistan had currently been receiving multiple pensions. “I know people receiving three pensions,” Mr Dar said.
Furthermore, the pension will be available for dependents for 10 years after the death of the pensioner and their spouse.
“If someone in Grade 17 and above is employed again, they will need to decide between receiving a salary or a pension,” Mr Dar said.
He said that the federal government would have to introduce a contributory pension fund to control pension expenditures, which he said had become unsustainable.
“The KP government has already introduced reforms in pensions, including contributory pensions for new employees,” he added.
He also said that the federal government had created a pension fund for the year 2023-24. “The rules and procedures for the fund will be finalised soon,” he said and added that austerity measures would continue in the year 2023-24.
Courtesy: 24newshd
