President stresses to provide relief to poor in budget

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has stressed to provide relief to poor and middle class in upcoming federal budget of fiscal year 2024-25.

President Asif Ali Zardari made these statements during a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Federal Minister for Planning and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal was also present during the meeting. PM Shehbaz Sharif Tuesday met with President Asif Ali Zardari to seek full support from him and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for the upcoming budget approval.

President ensured to provide full cooperation in achieving goals for financial and development progress of country. Both sides exchanged views on economic situation of country. They also discussed considerations about relief to public in upcoming budget.

PM Shehbaz Sharif also informed the president about his recent visit to China. Heads of states and government also discussed about the development projects in upcoming budget. On this occasion, President Asif Ali Zardari stressed to PM to provide relief to poor and middle class in upcoming federal budget.

It is pertinent to note that government is all set to present federal budget of over Rs18,900 billion today (Wednesday). Government has allocated Rs2,100 billion for defence and Rs9,700 billion for interest payments on loans reserved. For development projects, Rs. 1500 billion have been allocated.

In the budget, 253 billion rupees have been allocated for the energy sector, 827 billion rupees for infrastructure, 800 billion rupees for energy sector subsidy, 206 billion rupees for water resources, 279 billion rupees for transport and communication. The target of GDP growth in the budget is 3.6 percent.

The target of tax collection of 12 thousand 970 billion rupees has been set for Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in the coming financial year. FBR will have to collect additional revenue of 3720 billion rupees, direct tax 3452 billion and customs duty 267 billion compared to the current financial year.

The volume of taxes of Inland Revenue will be 11 thousand 379 billion, the volume of direct taxes will be 5 thousand 512 billion rupees, the volume of income tax will be 5 thousand 454 billion. An additional target of 1773 billion rupees has been given in the income tax volume, 2500 billion rupees.

On the other hand, a meeting of the parliamentary party of PPP’s was held under the chairmanship of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in which the members of the assembly expressed their concerns regarding the budget and said that the conditions on which Shehbaz supported the government are still waiting for implementation.