Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance, Miftah Ismail can present the budget for next fiscal year under the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business 2007 for the National Assembly. Sources said that an advisor with the status of Minister or Minister-in-Charge, is allowed to present budget and added that there is a 99 percent chance that next fiscal year's budget will be presented by Ismail.
On Friday, Ismail told media during a briefing that the budget for next fiscal year will be presented on April 27, 2018 and since then speculations are rife whether he would present the budget as he is not an elected member of the National Assembly.
According to 'Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly', the budget shall be presented by the Minister for Finance or, in his absence, any other Minister authorized by the leader of the House, hereafter in this chapter referred to as the Minister-in-Charge'. On December 26, 2017, Cabinet Division notified Miftah Ismail as adviser to Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs with the status of Federal Minister.
Sources said that Miftah Ismail has been supervising budget preparation activities in the Finance Ministry since he was accorded the status of a federal minister through a notification by the Cabinet Davison.
Sources said that work has been in progress on the budget for next fiscal year and Finance Ministry has issued a circular to the Ministries and Divisions directing them to submit their indicative budget ceiling demands for allocation of current as well as development budget for next fiscal year for timely finalization of budget during the priorities committee's meeting.
The budget ceiling of current and development budget firmed up in the priorities committee meeting will then be presented to the Annual Planning Coordination Committee (APCC) meeting jointly chaired by the Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms and Finance and attended by Ministers for Planning and Finance of the provinces for approval.
The last step before the approval of the budget from the Cabinet, a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) will approve consolidated development outlay and macroeconomic framework for next fiscal year.
The NEC meeting will be presided over by the Prime Minister and attended by Chief Ministers and Finance Ministers of provinces, Prime Minister of AJK, Chief Minister Gilgit Baltistan and Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as representative of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
Sources said that Finance Ministry has instructed ministries and divisions to provide details about utilization of current and development expenditures and demand of estimates for next fiscal year. Finance Division will prepare budget for the next fiscal year on the basis of revised targets of revenue collection and expenditure utilization fiscal year 2017-18.
As the budget for the next fiscal year will be presented more than two months in advance, sources added that fiscal deficit may be well over what is estimated in the budget documents by the end of the fiscal year.
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