ahlam1399
06-23-2016, 09:41 AM
NA passes budget 2016-17; all amendments
suggested by opposition rejected
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Wednesday passed ‘The Finance Bill 2016-17’ giving legal cover to the budgetary proposals for the next financial year as Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar said the government would be able to increase salaries of parliamentarians only after the return of the prime minister from abroad.
The House adopted a number of amendments proposed by the government while rejecting almost all the amendments given by the opposition members.According to an amendment, the sub clause 23 of Clause 5 was omitted envisaging withdrawal from amendment to the Income Tax Act under which the Pakistani nationals would have been legally bound to give details of their offshore assets to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). Along with Shahida Rehmani of the PML-N, the amendment was moved by Shazia Marri and other PPP members.
Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar moved amendments to clauses one to seven, first schedule, second schedule and statement of objects and reasons of the bill and the same were adopted by the House.
The new budget, with a total outlay of Rs4,895 billion, is growth-oriented, with special emphasis on attracting investment, improvement of infrastructure and providing relief to farmers and the common man.
Following the passage of the Finance Bill, the House also okayed 112 supplementary grants worth Rs261 billion for the financial year ending on 30th of this month.To a point of order from Shazia Marri of the PPP, the finance minister said for the year 2012-2013, the supplementary grants of Rs1,439 billion were approved whereas the present figure was much lower.
The budget envisages the Federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) of Rs800 billion with foreign assistance of Rs143 billion.The government has prioritised the energy sector and Rs410 billion will be spent on projects for the generation and distribution of energy. The focus of the PSDP would be on enhancing the LNG import from 400 to 600 mmcfd and execution of TAPI and the IP Pipeline projects.
An allocation of Rs68 billion has been made for 13 projects for development of Gwadar while Rs41 billion have been earmarked for the modernisation of the Pakistan Railways.The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has been allocated Rs21 billion for its 167 projects during the next year.
The budget contains a special package for the development of the agriculture sector. The government has reduced the prices of urea and DAP fertilizers and the volume of agriculture credit has been increased.
In the budget, the BISP Rs102 billion to Rs115 billion to help the poor. A total of Rs100 billion have been allocated as special development programme for Temporarily Displaced Persons and security enhancement.
The budget contains grant of 10 percent ad hoc relief allowance in the pay and pensions of government employees from 1st of next month. Ad hoc increases of 2013, 2014 and 2015 will be merged in the pay scales.
The budget contains a medium term micro framework 2016-19 under which GDP growth rate will be enhanced to seven percent in the next three years. Winding up discussion on Finance Bill, 2016, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that the government was determined to enhance the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to 22.2 percent of the GDP from the current 15.6 percent in the next two to three years. He said this would help generate eco**mic activity and create job opportunities in the country.
He said apart from China, the country was inviting investment from many other countries including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Ishaq Dar said China Pakistan Eco**mic Corridor project was in the interest of both the countries as it would enhance connectivity in the region.
He said all the political parties should join hands to make this mega project a success story. The finance minister said the eco**my had been put on the positive trajectory. This was also being recognised by several international organisations.
He maintained that the government would **t withdraw withholding tax on bank transaction for **n-filers of tax returns. Ishaq Dar said that negotiations were underway with Swiss authorities on the money stashed by Pakistani nationals in their banks.
A meeting in this regard would be held on Saturday next. He said Pakistan was also seeking the membership of multilateral convention Organisation for Eco**mic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to ensure easy access to those accounts.
Responding to the concerns of the members over the indirect taxes, the minister clarified that withholding tax was a direct tax. He said the ratio of direct taxes had been enhanced from 38 percent to 42.4 percent and the government was committed to further enhance this ratio.
He said efforts were being made to bring the **n-filers into the tax net. About the relief measures an**unced for the agriculture sector, the finance minister said these would come into effect immediately after the consent of the finance bill by the president.
Ishaq Dar said that work on the NFC was started in the month of April and the process would be completed at the earliest. Appreciating the discussion of the members on the finance bill, the finance minister assured that the decision regarding increase in the salaries of the MNAs would be taken after the return of the prime minister to the country.
The opposition members while taking part in debate on the finance bill, urged the government to enhance the ratio of direct taxes in order to provide relief to the common man. They said the taxation mechanism could only be improved by introducing reforms in the FBR.
The members said efforts should be expedited for the recovery of the amount stashed illegally by Pakistani nationals in Swiss banks. They were of the view that Pakistan could pay off all its loans and launch mega projects with the recovery of two billion dollars from the Swiss banks.
Highlighting the significance of China-Pakistan Eco**mic Corridor project, the opposition members said the government should give special emphasis to the development of Gwadar. They said training programmes should be launched for the youth of Gwadar so that they could fully take advantage of the opportunities to be generated by the deep sea port.
The opposition members said the finance bill, 2016 envisaged ** relief measures and demanded that salaries of government employees be enhanced by at least twenty percent.
Dr Nafeesa Shah said the withholding tax on bank transactions was meant to promote black eco**my and the practice was serving interests of particular segment of traders’ community.
Dr Arif Alvi said the government should move towards direct taxation saying that currently, 85 percent of revenue collections were made through indirect taxation. He said that smaller provinces should **t be ig**red while executing CPEC.
Others who took part in discussion included Aisha Syed, Ayesha Gulalai, Sahibzada Tariqullah, Jamshed Dasti, Shaikh Rashid Ahmad, Dr Azra Fazal and others.
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suggested by opposition rejected
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Wednesday passed ‘The Finance Bill 2016-17’ giving legal cover to the budgetary proposals for the next financial year as Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar said the government would be able to increase salaries of parliamentarians only after the return of the prime minister from abroad.
The House adopted a number of amendments proposed by the government while rejecting almost all the amendments given by the opposition members.According to an amendment, the sub clause 23 of Clause 5 was omitted envisaging withdrawal from amendment to the Income Tax Act under which the Pakistani nationals would have been legally bound to give details of their offshore assets to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). Along with Shahida Rehmani of the PML-N, the amendment was moved by Shazia Marri and other PPP members.
Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar moved amendments to clauses one to seven, first schedule, second schedule and statement of objects and reasons of the bill and the same were adopted by the House.
The new budget, with a total outlay of Rs4,895 billion, is growth-oriented, with special emphasis on attracting investment, improvement of infrastructure and providing relief to farmers and the common man.
Following the passage of the Finance Bill, the House also okayed 112 supplementary grants worth Rs261 billion for the financial year ending on 30th of this month.To a point of order from Shazia Marri of the PPP, the finance minister said for the year 2012-2013, the supplementary grants of Rs1,439 billion were approved whereas the present figure was much lower.
The budget envisages the Federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) of Rs800 billion with foreign assistance of Rs143 billion.The government has prioritised the energy sector and Rs410 billion will be spent on projects for the generation and distribution of energy. The focus of the PSDP would be on enhancing the LNG import from 400 to 600 mmcfd and execution of TAPI and the IP Pipeline projects.
An allocation of Rs68 billion has been made for 13 projects for development of Gwadar while Rs41 billion have been earmarked for the modernisation of the Pakistan Railways.The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has been allocated Rs21 billion for its 167 projects during the next year.
The budget contains a special package for the development of the agriculture sector. The government has reduced the prices of urea and DAP fertilizers and the volume of agriculture credit has been increased.
In the budget, the BISP Rs102 billion to Rs115 billion to help the poor. A total of Rs100 billion have been allocated as special development programme for Temporarily Displaced Persons and security enhancement.
The budget contains grant of 10 percent ad hoc relief allowance in the pay and pensions of government employees from 1st of next month. Ad hoc increases of 2013, 2014 and 2015 will be merged in the pay scales.
The budget contains a medium term micro framework 2016-19 under which GDP growth rate will be enhanced to seven percent in the next three years. Winding up discussion on Finance Bill, 2016, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that the government was determined to enhance the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to 22.2 percent of the GDP from the current 15.6 percent in the next two to three years. He said this would help generate eco**mic activity and create job opportunities in the country.
He said apart from China, the country was inviting investment from many other countries including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Ishaq Dar said China Pakistan Eco**mic Corridor project was in the interest of both the countries as it would enhance connectivity in the region.
He said all the political parties should join hands to make this mega project a success story. The finance minister said the eco**my had been put on the positive trajectory. This was also being recognised by several international organisations.
He maintained that the government would **t withdraw withholding tax on bank transaction for **n-filers of tax returns. Ishaq Dar said that negotiations were underway with Swiss authorities on the money stashed by Pakistani nationals in their banks.
A meeting in this regard would be held on Saturday next. He said Pakistan was also seeking the membership of multilateral convention Organisation for Eco**mic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to ensure easy access to those accounts.
Responding to the concerns of the members over the indirect taxes, the minister clarified that withholding tax was a direct tax. He said the ratio of direct taxes had been enhanced from 38 percent to 42.4 percent and the government was committed to further enhance this ratio.
He said efforts were being made to bring the **n-filers into the tax net. About the relief measures an**unced for the agriculture sector, the finance minister said these would come into effect immediately after the consent of the finance bill by the president.
Ishaq Dar said that work on the NFC was started in the month of April and the process would be completed at the earliest. Appreciating the discussion of the members on the finance bill, the finance minister assured that the decision regarding increase in the salaries of the MNAs would be taken after the return of the prime minister to the country.
The opposition members while taking part in debate on the finance bill, urged the government to enhance the ratio of direct taxes in order to provide relief to the common man. They said the taxation mechanism could only be improved by introducing reforms in the FBR.
The members said efforts should be expedited for the recovery of the amount stashed illegally by Pakistani nationals in Swiss banks. They were of the view that Pakistan could pay off all its loans and launch mega projects with the recovery of two billion dollars from the Swiss banks.
Highlighting the significance of China-Pakistan Eco**mic Corridor project, the opposition members said the government should give special emphasis to the development of Gwadar. They said training programmes should be launched for the youth of Gwadar so that they could fully take advantage of the opportunities to be generated by the deep sea port.
The opposition members said the finance bill, 2016 envisaged ** relief measures and demanded that salaries of government employees be enhanced by at least twenty percent.
Dr Nafeesa Shah said the withholding tax on bank transactions was meant to promote black eco**my and the practice was serving interests of particular segment of traders’ community.
Dr Arif Alvi said the government should move towards direct taxation saying that currently, 85 percent of revenue collections were made through indirect taxation. He said that smaller provinces should **t be ig**red while executing CPEC.
Others who took part in discussion included Aisha Syed, Ayesha Gulalai, Sahibzada Tariqullah, Jamshed Dasti, Shaikh Rashid Ahmad, Dr Azra Fazal and others.
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