ISLAMABAD, June 17: The National Assembly passed the budget on Friday with some amendments in the finance bill for 2005-06. The opposition, which took part in the first reading, boycotted the two other readings, criticizing the indirect taxation policy which, it said, was making the rich richer and poor poorer.
As the opposition boycotted the post-Maghrib prayer sitting, Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain called for the third reading and the bill was adopted by ‘ayes’ voice vote.
Earlier, opening the debate on the bill, Naveed Qamar of the People’s Party Parliamentarians alleged that the government was using powers to get the finance bill through without taking parliament into confidence.
He ridiculed the trickle down philosophy propounded by treasury members, and said that wealth accumulated in a few hands could not trickle down to the masses.
He criticized incentives offered to textile magnates and top industrialists in the budget and said concessions should have been provided to small entrepreneurs, cottage industry and lower income groups.
He said inflation rate could have been brought down by reducing taxes on petroleum products and sales tax on utility items and agriculture inputs.
Mr Qamar said the SRO culture had damaged the credibility of the taxation authorities and efforts should be made to abolish the culture.
The PPP MNA said sectors like real estate and stock markets should have been brought under tax net but no action had been taken in this direction to protect the interests of some people.
He expressed doubts about the announced raise in minimum wages of workers as no mechanism had been put in place to ensure its implementation.
Liaquat Baloch of the MMA said it was not clear whether budget proposals received from the Senate had been incorporated in the final document. He said all powers of the finance minister were still with the prime minister and the minister who had presented the budget was powerless and the same was the case with the adviser on finance.
Mr Baloch said the much-trumpeted GDP growth had no bearing on the life of common people as Pakistan had been ranked 120th in the list of poverty stricken countries from its earlier position of 80, while India stood at 57.
He said prices of essential commodities could have been controlled had the government cut down taxes on petroleum products which affected prices of other items.
The MMA leader demanded that the unemployed educated youth must be provided an unemployment allowance as it was government’s responsibility to provide jobs to citizens.
He called for freezing non-developmental expenditures, including expenses on the Prime Minister’s House and the President’s House for at least three years, and said the money thus saved could be used for people’s relief.
Begum Tehmina Daultana asked the government to provide micro-credit on nominal profits as loans obtained on 18 per cent interest rate were of no use to the people.
She alleged that no relief had been provided to the common people in the budget and all incentives and concessions had been crafted to benefit the military establishment.
Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan pointed out legal lacunas which, he said, could hurt the interest of businessmen in tax-related litigations.
Farid Paracha said that as many as 2,800 items had been put on import list in the Finance Act which included material like pig oil, pig meat and liquor of various makes which were not needed in the country.
He said tax on raw material would promote foreign goods in the country.
He said the government had reduced tax on big cars while tax on motorcycle and cycle, which were used by poor people, had been raised.
