ISLAMABAD: Newly-appointed Finance Minister Miftah Ismail is presenting a sixth full-term budget in the National Assembly on Friday amid opposition protests calling for a budget covering only the remaining three months of the federal government’s tenure.
“This is a historic moment for the parliament that the 6th budget is being presented. A government cannot run for a day without the budget. The provincial government’s cannot decide their budgets without approval of the federal budget,” Ismail explained.
“We cannot interrupt the 5.8 per cent GDP growth. However the next government will have the right to make changes to the budget,” he assured the opposition.
“Today’s budget is a reflection of Nawaz Sharif’s vision. We are missing him here today.”
“In 2013 the PML-N government came to power and set up a programme for the economy. We faced certain challenges under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif. Serving the public was our only motivation,” he added.
During Ismail’s address, members of the opposition continued their protests through uninterrupted chanting. They surrounded his dias and threw papers in the air.
Opposition members ripped apart copies of the budget while PML-N members encircled Ismail’s dias to keep the protesters at a distance.
Budget 18-19
The budget speech began with the finance minister recounting the government’s new tax package, through which it has lowered tax rates considerably.
Ismail said the government is using data mining and other technologies to catch tax thieves.
“We have given people one last chance to declare their domestic assets. We will catch them and prosecute them if they do not avail our tax amnesty package,” he asserted.
Review of PML-N’s performance
“Today we are the 24th largest economy in the world,” Ismail told the lower house.
“The GDP growth rate was 5.4pc last year ─ it has now grown to 5.8pc, the highest in 13 years,” he recalled.
“In the last five years, inflation has been kept below 5pc which was up to 12pc when we took over. The budget deficit will remain restricted to 5pc this year,” he said.
“The State Bank policy rate was 5.7pc which was the lowest in decades, coming down from over 9pc. The lowest interest rate in history has brought an increase in businesses” he explained.
“Exports have been under pressure… Imports have increased 17pc because of high machinery imports,” he said, adding that the current account deficit had increased Rs12bn in the first nine months of FY17-18.
“The government has made all efforts, and I am sure that foreign exchange reserves will be higher in June than they are today. In the ongoing year, foreign investment has risen from $1.9bn to $2.1bn.”
Opposition’s reservations
The opposition wants the government to present a budget only for one quarter, saying that the rulers cannot snatch the right of deciding a budget from the next government expected to come into power in August, after the general elections.
“I understand the pain for democracy and Constitution,” said Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi while addressing the Parliament. “We want to present the budget for continuity of the system. Whichever party comes can change the budget.”
Addressing the opposition’s reservation about Miftah Ismail, the newly appointed finance minister, presenting the budget, he said: “It is the cabinet’s decisions and nothing unconstitutional about this.”
‘No right to present full-term budget’
At the outset of the session, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah protested against the outgoing PML-N presenting a full-term budget instead for the remaining three months of its tenure.
“Unfortunately, the government is snatching the right of the next assembly with today’s budget,” said Shah. “My wish is that whichever party wins the elections, has the right to present the budget.”
“This government has no ethical right to present the budget for the entire year.”
“This mandate is given when a person comes into Parliament after being elected,” he continued. “What pains me is that Nawaz Sharif champions the narrative ‘vote ko izzat do'[respect the vote], yet you [PML-N] are destroying the honour of vote.”
“You had an elected minister, Rana Afzal, but you brought in a person with no mandate through wrong interpretation of the Constitution,” said Shah referring to the appointment of Miftah Ismail as the finance minister on Friday morning.
“I always say respect the Parliament and make it supreme; but once again, you are making decisions outside the Parliament. This is the first time an un-elected person is presenting the budget.”
“Could PM Abbasi not have presented the budget? Even the chief minister has presented budget in the past,” pointed out Shah.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) shared the same sentiments as Shah, saying: “Instead of an elected minister, you [PML-N] are giving the mandate to present the budget to an un-elected person.”
“A new tradition is being set,” he alleged. “The leader of the opposition has said there is no moral justification for the government to present the full-year budget.”
He highlighted that the budget being presented had not been endorsed by the National Economic Council (NEC). “Three CMs — of Sindh, KP and Balochistan — walked out from the meeting. What kind of democracy and government is this where three provinces are strongly expressing their distrust of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), yet you want to endorse it.”
Speaker Ayaz Sadiq urged the opposition leaders to keep their statements short so that the “group picture of MNAs” could be taken while there was still light.