In a budget meeting chaired by Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf, Federal Minister for Finance Muftah Ismail presented a budget of Rs 9,500 billion for the financial year 2023-22 .
For the financial year 23-2022, Rs. 550 billion will be set aside for development projects, Rs. 364 billion for Benazir Income Support Program and Rs. 2,000 per month for families with less than 40,000 income.
In his speech, Finance Minister Muftah Ismail said that Pune was on the cusp of economic mismanagement for four years, an inexperienced team had brought the country to the brink of disaster.
He said that the delay in reforms had hurt the economy and the devaluation of rupee had increased inflation.
He said that they are ready to take difficult decisions for the benefit of the economy and the country. The hour of difficult decisions is not over yet. We have done it before, we can do it and we will do it.
The Finance Minister said that incentives would have to be given to the low income group, strong foundation of economic growth would have to be laid and exports of agriculture and IT would have to be increased.
He said that there are problems like historical inflation, shortage of foreign exchange, load shedding.
He said that they are trying to stabilize the value of dollar by bringing trade balance into action.
Muftah Ismail said that the previous government borrowed Rs 20,000 billion, the Imran government spent more than the revenue, presented budget deficits.
Criticizing the previous government, he said that the PTI government had left a minefield for the state of Pakistan and the rupee depreciated by 61% between 2018 and 2022.
He said that the Prime Minister especially wants to give maximum relief to the poor people.
The Finance Minister said that by eliminating evasion in revenue, additional collection, tax leakage or evasion has reached Rs 3,000 billion.
Pension Fund established
He said that the government was going to take practical steps for austerity and released Rs. 10 billion for setting up a pension fund.
The Finance Minister said that Benazir Undergraduate Scholarships would be given to 10,000 more students.
Education
Muftah Ismail said that the Finance Minister said that Rs. 65 billion has been allocated for the Higher Education Commission while Rs. 44 billion has been allocated separately for the development schemes of HEC.
The HEC budget includes 5,000 articles for Balochistan and the amalgamated districts.
He said that construction of a university would also start in North Waziristan, one lakh laptops would be provided in easy installments.
Agriculture and food security
The Finance Minister said that Rs 21 billion has been allocated for increasing the production of crops and livestock so that the production can be increased.
Youth programs
A National Youth Commission will be set up for the youth, while various schemes will be set up for the youth.
Under the Youth Employment Policy for graduates, access to more than 2 million jobs will be ensured for the youth.
An interest free loan of up to Rs. 500,000 and a loan of up to Rs.
Quota for women in loan scheme
The quota for women in the loan scheme is 25%.
To ensure the economic independence of young women, they will be provided training in ‘high tech and other skills’ on priority basis. Youth Development Centers will be set up across the country.
Industry and trade
The Finance Minister said that the Ministry of Industry and Production had started work on industrial policy in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank.
He said that the Prime Minister has directed that all the claims of the exporters should be paid immediately.
He said that at present SBP has a certified debt of Rs. 40.5 billion and we are paying this amount immediately.
The Finance Minister said that industrial feeders would be exempted from load shedding to provide uninterrupted power to the industrialists. So far, not a single special economic zone is active in the country.
Development budget
The finance minister had said that Rs 800 billion has been set aside for the federal development program.
He said that development of infrastructure as per the needs of the country is our priority for which Rs. 395 billion has been earmarked.
GDP growth rate
The Finance Minister said that in the new budget, the GDP growth rate has been kept at 5%, next fiscal year inflation will be reduced to 11.5% while the overall deficit will be reduced to 4.9%.
Increase in salaries of government employees
Admitting that the country was suffering from severe financial crisis, the finance minister said that government employees were aware of their difficulties and therefore the salaries of government employees were being increased by 15%.
Subsidies
Rs 1515 billion will be spent on subsidies out of which targeted subsidies have been set at Rs 699 billion.
The Finance Minister said that subsidy has been fixed on sugar and flour every month for which Rs. 12 billion has been allocated.
Tax
In the new financial year, the income tax limit for the salaried class has been raised to Rs. 12 lakhs.
The Finance Minister said that it is proposed to increase the advance tax on vehicles exceeding 1600cc.
He said that equal tax would be levied on the assets of all classes, any Pakistani who is not a tax resident of another country would be considered as a tax resident of Pakistan.
One percent withholding tax will be levied on filers who send money abroad with credit, debit and prepaid cards.
Advance holding tax at the rate of 2% will be levied on non-filers.
Scholarship
The Finance Minister said that in the new budget, a stipend of Rs 2,000 for those earning less than Rs 40,000 has been included in the budget.
Benazir Income Support Program
The Federal Minister for Finance said that the amount of Benazir Income Support Program has been increased while Benazir Development Program will be extended to all districts.
Rs 364 billion has been allocated for Benazir Income Support Program.
Debt repayment
The finance minister said that Rs 3,144 billion would be spent on repaying interest on loans.
Revenue
During the next financial year, the revenue target of FBR will be Rs. 7,004 billion as against Rs. 6,000 billion last year.
In the new financial year, the federal government will have net revenue of Rs 4,904 billion while non-tax revenue will be Rs 2,000 billion.
Defense budget
In the new financial year 23-2022, Rs. 1523 billion has been allocated for national defense while Rs. 550 billion has been allocated for civil administration.
K4 plan
The Finance Minister said that Rs. 20 billion has been allocated for K-Four water supply project in Karachi for the next financial year.
Sports
The finance minister said that money would be set aside for the construction of 250 mini sports stadiums.
The Talent Hunt and Sports Drive program is designed for young people aged 11 to 25.
The Innovation League will also be launched to encourage the talents of the youth. A ‘Talent Hunt and Sports Drive’ program will also be set up for players aged 11 to 25.
Entertainment industry
During his speech, Muftah Ismail said that the film has been given industry status, filmmakers are being given tax exemption for 5 years.
Muftah Ismail says cinema producers are being exempted from income tax, National Film Studio is being set up.
The Finance Minister said that 5 years tax exemption would be given on import of machinery for films and dramas.
