KARACHI, June 12: With no budget documents were available in Karachi till late in the evening on Saturday when the federal finance minister delivered budget speech in the National Assembly at Islamabad, it is difficult to assess the impact of the increase in taxation revenue from Rs510 billion in the current fiscal year to Rs580 billion next fiscal year after a wide scale adjustment in the rate of sales tax.

He also announced the non taxation revenue projection for the next fiscal year but in the absence of the documents and break down it is difficult to assess the impact.

No one knows whether the delay in delivery of budget documents from Islamabad to Karachi is by default or by design. It is for the third consecutive year when budget documents have not been delivered in Karachi on the day the budget is announced.

Information available on the internet was also insufficient to make out any conclusion and the only source remained the speech one heard on the television channel in two parts.

"This budget will gradually unfold itself when it will start showing its teeth and nails and hurt the industrial production," a business leader who does not want to be identified remarked.

The finance minister focussed more on the governance and administration issues rather than on the fiscal measures reflecting government's concern to bring about a change in the management.

Steps proposed for poverty alleviation and improvement of social services look cosmetic and are not expected to bring about meaningful change.

The finance minister announced Rs13 billion for education, Rs6 billion for health and Rs2.6 billion for population welfare. "This total of Rs21.6 billion is not even 0.5 per cent of the claimed GDP of 95 billion dollars," Engineer M.A. Jabbar vice president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry said.

"Such a small allocation for social sectors as compared to high allocation for defence places Pakistan below to even many African countries," another business leader who wants to remain anonymous remarked.

Jabbar said that with this insignificant allocation Pakistan will remain at the bottom of human resource development index.

Yacoob Salehji said that the budget was bound to push up the production cost and hit the small and medium businessmen. The institutions set up to help the small businessmen are victim of bad governance and no step has been taken to improve their condition.