ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Friday presented the Federal Budget 2022-23 with a total outlay of Rs 9,502 billion, encompassing measures for sustainable economic growth, industrial and agriculture development, and relief for the poor people.
Presenting the budgetary proposals for the next Fiscal Year 2022-23 in the National Assembly, Miftah Ismail said that Rs 3,950 billion will be spent on debt servicing.
The finance minister said that a budget of Rs 800 billion has been earmarked for next year’s Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
The minister said that Rs 1,523 billion has been set aside for the Country’s defence and Rs 550 billion for civil administration’s expenditure.
Besides, Rs 530 billion have been allocated for pension while Rs 699 billion for targeted subsidies for the benefit of the poor people.
An amount of Rs 1,242 billion has been proposed for grants which include the grants of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Bait-ul-Mal, and other departments.
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The minister said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) revenue has been estimated at Rs 7,004 billion for the next fiscal year including Rs 4,100 billion share of provinces.
The net revenue with the federal government will be Rs 4,904 billion. The non-tax revenue will be Rs 2,000 billion.
The finance minister said the budget of BISP has been increased to Rs 364 billion for the next fiscal year.
In addition, Rs 12 billion have been allocated for provision of subsidy on essential commodities through the Utility Stores Corporation (USC). An additional amount of Rs 5 billion has been set aside for Ramadan Package.
The minister said that the facility of the Benazir Kafalat Cash Transfer Programme will be available to nine million deserving families under the BISP in the next fiscal year. For this, Rs 266 billion have been reserved.
Miftah Ismail said that the scope of Benazir Education Stipend Programme will be expanded to 10 million children.
Over Rs 35 billion have been proposed for this programme while 10,000 more students will be given Benazir Undergraduate Scholarship at a cost of Rs 9 billion.
The network of Benazir Nashonuma Programme will be expanded to all the districts, which will cost about Rs 21.5 billion. Besides, Rs 6 billion have been set aside for Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal for the medical treatment and assistance of deserving families.
Miftah Ismail said that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif wants to extend maximum relief to the people, especially the poor during these difficult times. For this purpose, the government has taken several steps to provide subsidy and assistance. However, he added that the continuation of this will require more resources.
To achieve this, there is a need to impose a special tax on higher income earnings in order to divert the resources to the poor people.
Miftah Ismail said that our budget philosophy is to enhance agriculture production, especially the edible oil in order to reduce agricultural imports, separately. He also said that we need to promote industries to bolster exports and earn valuable foreign exchange which will help address the issue of balance of payments on permanent basis.
The finance minister said that the energy sector has pivotal importance for the people as well as the industries and trade. For these sectors and the people, we gave an additional subsidy of Rs 214 billion.
The minister said that Rs 573 billion have been earmarked in the next financial year so that the people could afford the electricity in the harsh weather of summer. He said that we released Rs 248 billion s for the payment of outstanding amounts in the petroleum sector and Rs 71 billion will be provided in the next fiscal year.
The minister said that we will soon announce the new gas tariffs which will be aimed at providing gas to the industries at competitive rates which will help in bolster exports.
Furthermore, he said that we have earmarked Rs 65 billion in the current budget for the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
In addition, Rs 44 billion have been allocated for the development schemes of the HEC which is 67 percent higher than the previous year.
The finance minister said that we are encouraging the provinces to fully fulfill their responsibilities regarding promotion of higher education in the coming years. He said that the HEC budget envisages 5,000 scholarships for the students of Balochistan and tribal districts. He added that a separate scholarship scheme has also been included for the coastal areas of Balochistan.
The minister also announced to provide 100,000 laptops on easy installments to the students across the Country. He said that funds have also been allocated for provision of state of the art equipment to upgrade education of engineering and technology.
The finance minister said that austerity is the top priority of the present government. Reducing government’s expenditure is part of this budget and we are taking concrete steps in this regard.
The minister said that there will be a complete ban on purchase of vehicles, and that except, development projects, there will also be a ban on procurement of furniture and other items.
Miftah Ismail said that the petrol quota of Cabinet members and government officials will be reduced by 40%. He also said that there will also be a ban on foreign tours under government expense, except the important ones.
In addition, he said that our biggest challenge is to achieve growth without Current Account Deficit (CAD); therefore, at least 5% will be achieved without disturbing the balance.
Miftah Ismail said that the GDP will be enhanced from Rs 67 trillion to Rs 78.3 trillion during the next Financial Year 2022-23.
The minister said that we are trying to reduce inflation by better fiscal and monetary policies. He said that the inflation will be reduced to 11.5% during the next fiscal year.
The finance minister said that the tax to GDP ratio is estimated to increase to 9.2% from the current 8.6% during the next financial year. He recalled that we had left this ratio at 11.1% in the year 2017-18. He said that the overall deficit which currently stands at 8.6% will be gradually brought down. This will be brought down to 4.9% in the next fiscal year.
Similarly, the overall primary balance which is currently -2.4% of the GDP will be improved to 0.19%.
The finance minister said that the imports, which are expected to be US$ 76 billion during the current fiscal year, will be reduced to US$ 70 billion in the next financial year.
At present, exports are US$ 31.3 billion, which will be enhanced to US$ 35 billion in the next fiscal year. The current account balance will be reduced to -2.2% of the GDP from the current -4.1%.
The remittances which will remain US$ 31.1 billion during the current fiscal year are expected to rise to US$ 33.2 billion in the upcoming fiscal year, he said.
