Ending the budget session 2022-23 debate in the National Assembly on Friday, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail stated that Pakistan, a country of 220 million people, would not default in any way, but would rather advance and develop by the favor of Allah Almighty.
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Miftah Ismail highlighted various progressive budgetary measures, aimed at overcoming huge deficits and putting the economy on a growth path with an objective to ensure the country’s sovereignty, which was put at stake by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government.
The federal minister said that most of the recommendations proposed by Senate and National Assembly Members were incorporated into the finance bill.
Criticizing the PTI government for damaging the economy, the minister said that the fiscal year 2021-22 would be remembered as the worst year as the country deviated from all its set targets, accumulating huge deficits upto Rs5310 billion, which is around 9.85 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“The threat of default is now over, and the country is now on the track to development. The government has imposed taxes on small and big shops. Our negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are in the final phase,” claimed the finance minister, the government saved the country from going bankrupt by taking tough decisions.
He said many budgetary measures were taken to tax the rich and provide relief to the poor. He said the budget was farmer-friendly as many initiatives were taken to promote the agriculture sector to make the country self-sufficient in edible oil, wheat and other crop production.
Elaborating on the imposition of taxes by the government on different sectors, Miftah said that the government did not impose indirect taxes to keep the poor people safe from financial burden, adding that the government taxed big industries to reduce the budget deficit and avoid loans from the international financial institutions.
“My own company will give above Rs200 million in tax. The companies of the prime minister and his sons will also pay high taxes. If we are asking others to pay high taxes, we are doing the same too,” he pointed out.
“Moreover, under a new scheme, their income tax and sales tax have been fixed to their electricity bills. A fixed tax of Rs3,000 from small shops and Rs10,000 from big shops will be received monthly from these shops with their electricity bills. After that, they will owe nothing to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR),” he stated.
