June 16, 2007	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 30, 1428

ISLAMABAD, June 15: The Senate concluded its four-day budget debate on Friday after adopting a resolution to forward 90 recommendations to the National Assembly for incorporation into the budget.

The chairman of Senate’s standing committee on finance, Mr Ahmed Ali, tabled the resolution which was adopted unanimously. He also presented a report of what he called two days of discussion on the finance bill.

Winding up the debate, Minister of State for Finance Omar Ayub rejected an opposition demand to freeze defence spending, claiming that the country’s defence had been made impregnable and the spending would be maintained at all costs.

He defended the process of budget making and also the NFC formula given by the president and said that under the formula the provincial share would reach up to 50 per cent.

Attributing the ongoing power shortage to the 18 to 20 per cent industrial growth, he said a number of projects had been undertaken and more were in the pipeline to end the power crisis. He claimed that 15 million jobs had been created during the last seven years and the 2007-2008 budget promised more job opportunities. He criticised the opposition for not acknowledging the ‘unprecedented’ development.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Mian Raza Rabbani reiterated that the budget without announcement of the National Finance Commission award was unconstitutional because chief ministers of the provinces had no power to empower the president to decide the resource distribution formula.

He said both the opposition and the treasury were of the view that 15 of 21 amendments included in the finance bill violated Article 73 of the Constitution and the opposition was determined to block the passage of those amendments.

He condemned sacking of a large number of employees of various public sector organisations over the past few years and the impending ‘handshake’ programme offered to 44,000 employees of the PTCL.

The lawmakers called for reviewing the National Finance Commission Award to provide more funds to backward areas, minimise dependence on indirect taxation, enhance direct taxes, create consensus on building dams and involving the masses in budget making to ensure maximum benefits to them, instead of the two per cent elite only.

Rehana Baloch of the Pakistan Muslim League said nowhere in the world the resource distribution was made on the basis of population alone, and called for considering the backwardness of areas and revenue generation while preparing the formula.

Abdur Rahim Mandokhel of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party said the pattern on which the bureaucracy prepared budget every year would never help reduce poverty or create a balance between the rich and the poor. Calling for an increase in direct taxation, he said indirect taxes put more burden on the common man.

He said it was a pity that 60 per cent of the budget was consumed by general services, leaving only Rs170 billion for social services.

Simin Siddiqi of the PML called for building consensus on construction of dams to overcome the water and power shortages in the country.

She called for including equipment and medicines for thalassaemia patients in the Baitul Mal list

Anwar Bhinder of the PML called for reducing the trade deficit which was hampering development.