ISLAMABAD, June 14: Minister of State for Finance Omar Ayub Khan on Tuesday announced withdrawal of 10 per cent withholding tax proposed in the federal budget on pay phones and reducing the duty on scrap from five per cent to zero. Winding up the budget debate in the National Assembly, the minister said out of 20 recommendations made by the Senate’s finance committee, 17 had been approved which would be incorporated into the budget.

The budget debate started on June 8 following its presentation on June 6 and both opposition and treasury lawmakers debated for more than 45 hours its various aspects.

The state minister was made to shorten his speech to allow more time to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to speak on the budget.

The minister received applause from treasury benches, mostly initiated by the prime minister, but was heckled by the opposition for his exuberance.

Though he announced a relief in the shape of withdrawal of withholding tax on pay phones and reducing duty on scrap to zero, the minister did not offer anything substantial for common people.

He said the budget was prepared to run the system and establish the fact that Pakistan being a sovereign state had the ability to manage its finances without seeking help from foreign institutions or acceding to their pressure.

He claimed that the country had attained the status of the five most successful economies in the world and refuted the opposition’s claim that budget preparation without the announcement of the NFC award was unconstitutional.

Mr Khan said the NFC award would be announced soon by taking all the four provinces into confidence as any haste in the distribution of resources could harm the inter-provincial harmony.

He claimed that the budget was pro-poor and people-friendly as it earmarked Rs25 billion for enhancement of salaries of 1.2 million government employees, most of whom were low paid, provided a huge funding for the Khushal Pakistan programme and offered small loan schemes for the lower strata of society.

He also mentioned substantial budgetary allocations for education, health and other social sectors, which he said, would benefit the common man.

Mr Khan also mentioned the prime minister’s decision of providing wheat flour and sugar at low rates through utility stores with a view to providing relief to poor people.

Replying to opposition members’ criticism of his grandfather Ayub Khan, Mr Khan said the NWFP was receiving Rs6 billion a year from Tarbela dam which was built by Ayub Khan.