RAWALPINDI: The government said it will improve infrastructure in the country, but this will not be possible because it increased the prices of construction material and now more funds will be spent on projects,” said former city district nazim and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Raja Tariq Mehboob Kianai on Friday.

Mr Kiani was talking to Dawn about the fifth federal budget for the fiscal year 2017-18 which was presented by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday, which industrialists are saying is a balanced budget while the salaried class are saying the budget is ‘anti-poor’.

“The federal government increased the price of cement and steel and it will increase the cost of development in the country so a few industrialists will benefit while the tax payers’ money will be wasted in infrastructure projects,” Mr Kiani said.

The middle class will find it even harder to construct houses because the government has increased the price of construction material, he added.

The salaries of government employees have been increased by 10pc which will not help due to the high rate of inflation, he said.

“Duty was decreased on poultry but this will help the PML-N’s poultry business. The common man will only benefit in Ramazan via the drama of Ramazan bazaars while poultry farm owners make more money,” he said.

The PTI leader said that under international requirements, the government should have invested in human resources and education but no funds were directed to this sector. He said the budget is not public oriented.

A government employee, Mohammad Akbar said the salaries of government employees have been increased by 10pc but this will not really benefit low scale government employees, whose salaries will be increased by Rs600 to Rs700 only. He said those employees who get paid more than Rs100,000 will get the benefit.

He said the salaries of members of parliament were increased by 100pc but that of government employees by 10pc. He said now government employees will find it difficult to provide education and health facilities to their children.

A school teacher, Saghir Alam also criticised the federal government for presenting an ‘anti-poor’ budget and that the government had neglected the education sector.

A trader, Mohammad Faisal said a tax of 0.6pc on bank transactions should be ended as it forces traders to not use banks. He said this created problems for people and is also detrimental for the banking sector.

Representatives of the All Pakistan Clerks Association also rejected the 10pc increase in salaries and said the association will stage a protest against the government for which teachers and contract employees will also join them.

On the other hand, the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) said the new budget was balanced though it did not meet traders’ expectations and urged agriculture based businesses should make use of the facilities announced for them.

RCCI Acting President Khawaja Rashid Waien said a number of good decisions were announced in the budget and that a comprehensive reaction will be announced later by the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He said traders had great expectations from the budget but the facilities for common people were not up to expectations. He appreciated the announcement of subsidiaries and the relaxation of duties on agriculture machines, saying this will help boost the agriculture business.

However, he expressed concern over the duty imposed on cement and the increase in capital gain tax on dividends and securities. He appreciated the increase in taxes on non-fliers as this will help document the economy and an increase in the tax net.

Mr Waien also appreciated the Rs2113 billion allocation for public sector development programmes for the next budget. The lowering of sales tax by 30pc is a good step, he said but expressed concern over the extension of super tax.

Rawalpindi Anjuman Tajaran’s Sharjeel Mir also said the federal government had presented a good budget which will help increase business activities. He said traders were ready to pay taxes and that the government had assured the taxation system will be improved as per the desires of the business community.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2017