ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar Friday informed the National Assembly that the government has approved as many as 86 recommendations, forwarded by the Upper House for incorporation in the Finance Bill 2016-17.
The Senate had forwarded 139 recommendations to be incorporated in the budget document, out of which 86 have been approved by the government, which is 62 percent of the total recommendations, he said while concluding the debate on budget 2016-17.
This is a record in the parliamentary history of Pakistan, he added.
Giving break-up figures, the finance minister said that out of the 86 proposals, 34 were accepted in totality while 30 were approved in principle with remaining 22 approved partially.
He said that implementation on 53 proposals was not possible.
The Finance Minister thanked the opposition leader for his positive response on the idea of formulating Economic Charter.
He said the government has already provided three-year (2016-19) Medium Term Macro Economic Framework with the budget document.
He urged the opposition to give its recommendations so that economic roadmaps for seven years, ten years and 15- year could be formulated to lead the country towards sustainable development.
Dar lamented that undue criticism was made against inflation which was against the reality.
He said that the inflation was reduced from 25 percent in 2008 to average 12 percent from 2008-2013 and less than 3 percent currently.
He said that the Fiscal Deficit was also reduced form 8.4 percent to 4.3 percent during the past three years and the government targets to bring it more down to 3.8 percent during the current fiscal year.
He said the government has reduced cost of fertilizers, tax and tariff rates on tube-well electricity besides providing them credit facilities to enhance agriculture produce.
He said it has become fashion among some circles, now to doubt statistical figures, which was not a good practice.
He said Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) had been set up by passing an Act of the Parliament and the Chief Statistician is administered oath by the President.
He said that the PBS is working in accordance with international standards so the doubts on this count were baseless and meaningless.
He said that rains and pest attack resulted in low agriculture growth, however, he added the services and industrial sector performed well.
He said that there was no discrimination in implementing China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in the provinces. He said that CPEC was a game changer which would result in spread of road networks all across the country.
He said that the portion of Direct Taxes has increased compared to the past and the SRO exemptions have been eliminated while it has been made difficult for non-filers to remain out of tax net.
He said that the government did its best to give relief on the commodities in use of poor and vulnerable by providing exemption on Indirect Taxes.
He also dispelled the impression that taxes on petroleum products have been increased. He read out the figures before the House to show that actually the taxes and petroleum development levy have been reduced during the tenure of current government.
Dar said that Sales Tax on MS petrol has been reduced from Rs 14.70 in March 2013 to Rs 9.36 now. Similarly the tax on Kerosene oil has been reduced from Rs 14.30 to Rs 5.58, High Octane form Rs 19.32 to 10.58 and Light Diesel Oil from 13.55 to 1.86. However, he added that the tax on High Speed Diesel has been increased from 15.66 to 18.47.
He said that Petroleum Development Levy on petrol has decreased from Rs 10 to 9.68, on Kerosene from Rs 6 to just 5 paisa, High Octane from Rs 14 to Rs 11.89 and Light Diesel Oil from Rs 3 to just 5 paisa.
