Islamabad : June 12 ,2024 : Govt lays down tax-laden Rs 18.87 trillion deficit budget in the national assembly for FY 2024-25. Finance minister , Mohammad Aurangzeb , presented the budget in the lower house. The budget is likely to open up a new floodgate of pricehike in the country. The substantial increase in petroleum levy, increase in general sales tax (GST) and enhanced import duty are going to add to econimc woes of the low income group of Pakistan ‘s society. The budget suggest massive deficit of Rs 9975 billion for FY 2024-25. The budget speech of the Fiance minister indicated that the federal government ‘s income will be Rs 9119 billion in next fiscal whereas its expense will be more than double of its income i e Rs 18877 billion . Pakistan ‘s payment of interest on debt for next fiscal will be Rs 9775 billion . The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR ) will be tasked to collect Rs 12. 97 trillion in next fiscal year. Defence needs will require Rs 2122 billion . The government will spend Rs 1500 billion in public sector development in FY 25. The government will spend Rs 597 on BISP . Finance minister , Aurangzeb in his budget speech said
it is an honor for me to present the budget for the financial year 2024-25 before this honorable house. “I want to express my deepest gratitude to the leadership of the political parties in the coalition government, especially Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Abdul Aleem Khan and Khalid Hussain Magsi for their guidance”, the Finance minister said .
He said that despite the political and economic challenges, our progress on the economic front during the last one year has been impressive.
Today, nature has given Pakistan another opportunity to embark on the path of economic development, we cannot afford to waste this opportunity. In June last year, the IMF program was coming to an end and the new program There was a lot of uncertainty.
The Finance Minister while delivering the budget speech in the National Assembly said that despite the political and economic challenges, our progress on the economic front during the last one year has been impressive. has been echoed many times, today nature has given Pakistan another opportunity to walk the path of economic development, we cannot afford to waste this opportunity.
He said that the IMF program was coming to an end in June last year and there was a lot of uncertainty regarding the new program. By agreement, the measures taken under this program paved the way for economic reforms and brought an end to uncertainty.
Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb said that the inflation has come down to about 12% in May, the food items are now within the reach of the people and if we look at the challenges faced, this is no small achievement and the inflation is likely to decrease further in the coming days. . Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that we are continuing the home-grown reform agenda with determination and determination that Pakistan will soon return to the era of inclusiveness and sustainable development. He said that everyone is well aware that the road is tough and we have limited options but this is the time for reforms.
This is the time to give central importance to the private sector in our economy and make Pakistan our priority instead of a few people. Production and exports are under pressure. In the past, unnecessary burdens were placed on the state, which led to unsustainable government spending, which resulted in inflation, low productivity and low-income jobs for the people of Surat. The minister said that to come out of this cycle of low growth, structural reforms have to be carried out and incentives in the economy have to be put right such as:
We have to move to a market-based economy rather than one government determining the economy.
Our economic system has to keep pace with the global economy and promote exports.
Our economic growth should be savings and capital based rather than consumption based.
The Federal Minister said that while bringing these changes in the economic system, we should not ignore equality and inclusion, we need to take bold steps by examining the following aspects.
1. Like all modern economies, we need to limit the footprint of the state to essential public services while undertaking extensive privatization and regulatory reforms.
2. In order to improve productivity, domestic and foreign investment and regulatory and investment climate improvements will have to be made.
3. It is also imperative to establish a broad-based fair taxation regime that provides equal opportunities to all and eliminates anti-export distortions.
4. Market-oriented reforms in the energy sector are needed to bring down the cost of energy.
5. Building health, education and skill development systems is very important for a modern economy.,He said that reducing the budget deficit will be our main goal and in this regard, thanks to a fair tax policy, we will increase our income better and reduce unnecessary expenses, but while reducing this, we need to improve human development, social security and Actions to combat climate change must be prioritized and not scaled back.
Emphasizing the need to make the energy sector efficient, he said that we have to reduce production costs, restructure and privatize SEO and promote the private sector through good governance and equal opportunities for all. All this is aimed at solving the chronic problem of expenditure exceeding income.
Finance Minister said that Pakistan lags far behind other countries in terms of tax rate compared to GDP, therefore reforms in tax system are very important for our economic success. Azam is keeping a close eye on digitization, tax policy and administrative reforms in FBR and his clear directive is not to burden those already in the tax net but to expand the scope of taxation.
Referring to the businessman-friendly scheme, he said that the aim of this scheme is to register wholesalers, dealers and retailers and so far we have registered 30,400 people and it will be accelerated in the coming days. Effective use will be made of existing data for He stressed the importance of the provinces and the government working together to increase overall resources and said that we recommend a comprehensive National Fiscal Packet with all the provincial governments as coordination and unity are key to achieving the goal of self-sufficiency. is the only way and consultation with the provinces is going on in this regard.
Mentioning the steps taken to reduce expenses, he said that the proposal to eliminate all vacant posts from PBS one to 16 is under consideration, which is likely to save 45 billion rupees annually, while the federal cabinet A committee has also been formed to reduce the volume of
He said that a major part of the budget of any government is spent on the procurement of goods and services, through the ease and transparency of the procurement system, the efficiency of the government can be improved as well as resources can be saved and e. Government expenditure can be reduced by 10 to 20 percent through procurement, while it will also help in controlling problems like corruption, fraud and malfeasance in the system. Giving more details in this regard, he said that this system has been implemented in 37 ministries and 279 procuring agencies under which procurement of 14 billion rupees has been done, training of 8 and a half thousand employees of procurement agencies has been completed and 10 thousand 545 suppliers. have been registered in this system.
It should be remembered that the budget session was supposed to start at four in the evening, but due to some reasons, the budget session started almost two hours late. . In a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the federal cabinet approved the budget for the next financial year 2023-24. In the cabinet meeting, the package for farmers, youth and industries was also approved. Addressing the Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the country was brought out of economic difficulties and brought towards stability. History is a witness that we saved the country’s economy by sacrificing our politics. He said that with the help of Allah and under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif, the country was saved from bankruptcy. The Prime Minister said that those who sacrificed their lives for the country were desecrated, seeing such chaos for the first time in his many years of practical politics. Shahbaz Sharif said that as much relief as possible to the common man was given in the budget, measures will be taken for the relief of the country’s workers, farmers and salaried class. According to the interim plan of the government, the general debate on the budget will begin on June 20 and continue until June 24. . The government released the Pakistan Economic Survey 2023-24 a day ago, which showed that the economy failed to meet most of its targets set in the previous budget due to difficult government conditions, but the agriculture sector showed unprecedented growth. received The National Economic Council (NEC) consisting of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, the four Chief Ministers, Defense, Finance and Planning Ministers increased the federal budget of Rs. Public Sector Development Program approved. It was reported that the finance ministry and the IMF are engaged in key talks ahead of the budget while the global lender has put some tough conditions on the government. The main demands of the IMF include increasing the tax revenue target, ending subsidies, taxes on the agricultural sector, increasing levies and taxes on the electricity, gas and oil sectors, privatization of loss-making government institutions and units, and improving governance. Included. In the report submitted to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the committee recommended closing some government institutions, merging many institutions and handing over some institutions to the provinces. The prime minister constituted a high-powered committee to consider the preliminary proposals.