ISLAMABAD: The PPP has called for a 25 per cent increase in pay and pension, a minimum wage of Rs18,000 per month, and a separate fund to protect vulnerable groups, including transgender people, under Benazir Income Support Programme.

Presenting a shadow budget for fiscal year 2017-18 on Tuesday, Senator Saleem Mandviwalla also stressed for reorganising and revamping the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

“We believe that the budget must be welfare-oriented and additional revenues can be collected by expanding the tax net with the help of Nadra [National Database and Registration Authority],” said Senator Mandviwalla, a former finance minister and now the chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance.

Proposes reducing deficit by improving tax collection

He said the power rates are high despite low oil prices, and circular debt was still hovering above Rs400 billion. “If the current government recognises Rs400bn circular debt and Rs200bn refund payments of taxpayers, the budget deficit will rise to 6pc from the declared 5pc,” he added.

He was accompanied by Senator Osman Saifullah, Chaudhry Manzoor, former Punjab finance minister Tanvir Kaira and PPPP Secretary General Senator Farhatullah Babar.

The PPP shadow budget stands at Rs5.8 trillion, envisaging Rs825bn in revenue and eyeing four million new tax filers.

Apart from restructuring the FBR and diverting resources to enhance social and food security, the PPP shadow budget calls for close cooperation with provinces to implement labour laws, including minimum wages.

An additional allocation of Rs47bn per year to health is envisaged to bridge the yawning gap in this sector.

Provinces will be persuaded to raise education spending to achieve the target of 5pc of GDP in the next five years.

Sales tax on goods and services and provincial excise will be collected by provincial revenue-collective authorities. Federal excise will also be collected by provinces and then transferred to the federal government on agreed terms, Senator Mandviwalla said.

On revenue generation, he said the PPP believed in promoting public-private partnership mode for infrastructure development and introducing conducive policies to boost exports.

“We need an industrial policy and improve manufacturing. But unfortunately, the National Industrial Policy 2011 aimed at turning Pakistan into a factory instead of a shop was not implemented by this government,” he said.

Responding to a question, Chaudhary Manzoor denied that the high number of employees were the cause of declining state of public sector enterprises. “Nawaz Sharif is a businessman, but it is clear that they are interested in buying the state-owned enterprises. Otherwise, the employees are not responsible for the state of steel mills or PIA,” he said.

He said the current government did not carry forward the energy policy of the previous governments which led to the present electricity shortfall.

The PPP leaders said the overall debt had increased from Rs9.5tr in 2013 to Rs12.7tr in 2016 while external debt rose from $61bn dollars to $73bn during the same period.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2017