ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail stated on Saturday that fiscal consolidation is the first and foremost priority of the government that demands tough decisions to deal with the challenging economic situation.
Addressing a post-budget press conference along with Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha and others, the finance minister said that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is happy over personal income tax (PIT) relief to Rs100,000 or Rs20,000 income category of the salaried class. However, he said that he would negotiate with the Fund, adding that the first and foremost priority of the government is fiscal consolidation ahead of moving on to growth.
He said that he had not seen a more difficult time in the last 30 years and stated that in the face of global challenges nothing was done by the previous administration. As if the administrative affairs of the country are not improved then it is difficult to run the country. He deplored that $2.4 billion in gas is being wasted in the air. We cannot do those expenses which we cannot afford, he added.
The minister said that a subsidy of Rs400 billion was given to the gas sector and over Rs1,100 billion to the power sector in the ongoing fiscal year and added that over 20 percent of gas in the SSGCL is UfG, whereas, the gas sector’s circular debt is over Rs1,400 billion.
Budget to focus on fiscal consolidation and sustaining growth: Miftah Ismail
He further stated that a high price of electricity despite being provided subsidy has been the mismanagement in the sector as transmission and distribution remained neglected during the last four years.
The finance minister said that if the previous government of Punjab has promised to provide gas to export-oriented industries, the federal government would honour the commitment to enable it to compete with regional countries which are getting cheaper gas.
He said that there was no other choice before the present government but to make difficult decisions and this budget was prepared in this background and the fiscal deficit was projected to be reduced to 4.9 percent for the next fiscal year and the federal government would be left with nothing after debt servicing from the total revenue collection of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). He said that of the total tax collection of Rs7,004 billion projected for the next fiscal year, Rs4,000 billion would be transferred to the provinces. Ismail said that 2.5 million shopkeepers will be brought in the tax net this year. The finance minister said that efforts have been made in the budget to get more share from the rich and provide relief to the people, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Finance Aisha Ghaus Pasha said that the budget has adopted a strategy of minimizing the burden on the people and there are many measures in the budget in this regard. She said that to deal with the challenge of inflation the government did not impose any indirect tax and provided subsidies to the low-income segment. However, she said that inflation was all over the world due to the super cycle of price increases in the international market. Both the minister said that the BISP allocation has been increased to provide relief to the people.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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