ISLAMABAD. The national assembly has cleared Finance Bill 2021 (amended) as the opposition failed to resist it by numbers in the house
The house also rejected all amendments recommended by the opposition in the bill. When the bill was presented in the house at around 10.30 pm on Thursday for voting, majority of the opposition members had left the house. in favour of 168 votes and in against 150 votes paved way for passage of the bill.
Earlier, the main leadership of the opposition parties in the national assembly had made emotional speeches against the proposed amendments in the Finance Bill 2021.
Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) president, Shahbaz Sharif, called the Finance Bill 2021 (Amended) as a crule act against the people and warned the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) government to refrain from fulfilling the agenda of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) through the proposed amendments. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in his address in the assembly called the powers recommended for the Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in the bill as a plan of PTI to compromise on financial soverignity to the international financial institutions .
PPP chairman, Balawal Bhutto, deplored that PTI government was pushing ahead its anti people agenda. He chided Finance minister, Shaukat Tarin’s claims that the amended Finance Bill 2021 will not add to the price hike and said “Tarin sahib we know your address in Karachi and would bring the people in front of it to protest against the mini budget”.
Finance minister, Shaukat Tarin, had called opposition’s concern over the amendments in Finance Bill 2021 unfounded and termed their speeches as unnecessary noise.
