ISLAMABAD, June 15: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told the National Assembly on Thursday that there would be no compromise on national defence and ruled out rupee devaluation as the government came out strongly to defend the new federal budget against bitter opposition criticism.

Speaking on the seventh and last day of a general debate on the budget for fiscal year 2006-07, he said the government could give more subsidies to agriculture if needed.

He called for national unity in defence of national causes in a speech after one by ruling PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, who touched some political questions raised in opposition criticism and said a decision on when President Gen Pervez Musharraf would quit his army post would be taken strictly in accordance with the Constitution.

“We will give every sacrifice for the defence and honour of our country and will not permit any deficiency of resources in the matter,” Mr Aziz said in an apparent response to opposition criticism of an increased defence budget on the ground of army’s interventions in the country’s politics. “Any evil eye (cast against the country) will be met with a stout defence,” he added.

The prime minister said the record $13 billion foreign exchange reserves had saved the rupee from falling to possibly Rs100 to a dollar, which would have meant higher prices of petroleum products, which he called a major challenge the government faced during the outgoing fiscal year along with the earthquake of October 8.

Noting that the rupee, which is on a float against a basket of foreign currencies, had stood its ground for a long time, he said: “You forget devaluation, there will be no devaluation. We have finished this concept.”

The prime minister referred to budget concessions given to agriculture, such as subsidy on fertilisers, duty-free import of tractors and plans for more water reservoirs and introducing drip irrigation system and said: “We will give more subsidies if needed.”

He said Rs415 billion earmarked for development in the Rs1.5 trillion budget would take Pakistan forward and assured the lower house that every decision taken by the government would be in national rather than anybody’s personal interest.

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said he hoped the situation in Balochistan would be ‘all right’ as he referred to a failed 2005 peace accord with tribal chief Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti that he said related only to the latter’s home district of Dera Bugti rather than whole of the troubled province.