ISLAMABAD, Nov 21: The government informed the National Assembly on Friday that Rs21 billion had been whitened through 2,619 declarations under the investment scheme introduced in the 2008-09 budget. And the government had earned Rs420.27 million in taxes at a rate of two per cent.
Under the concession, all movable and immovable assets on the basis of price assessment, as of June 30, have been allowed to be whitened in taxation proposals of the budget. Initially, the scheme was for two months, but later it was extended to December this year.
The house was informed that foreign exchange reserves, which were $14.78 billion on Feb 1 this year, stood at $6.6 billion on Nov 14. Outstanding domestic loans stood at Rs.3373.7 billion in September and foreign loans at $40.24 billion in June.The rate of inflation climbed to 17.6 per cent, mainly because of rising prices of crude oil, edible oil, rice and wheat.
Through a written reply the government informed the house that Punjab had collected Rs113.2 billion, Sindh Rs142 billion and Balochistan Rs1.7 billion under direct and indirect taxes over the past five years. Of this, Rs57.9 billion was returned to Punjab, Rs26.2 billion to Sindh, Rs13.6 billion to the NWFP and Rs5.3 billion to Balochistan till September under the NFC formula.
In reply to a question, the Minister of State for Finance, Hina Rabbani Khar, said that only one million people were paying taxes. She said the government had not entered into any agreement with the IMF to cut the defence budget or impose tax on agriculture.
The month-wise subsidy paid by the government over the past four months (July-October) indicates that it had made two attempts in August and September to reduce the subsidy to Rs1.49 billion and Rs0.36 billion, respectively, from Rs16.25 in July. But it rose to Rs11.54 billion in October, pushing the total to Rs29.64 billion.
In reply to a question, the minister of state for interior said that those foreigners who had purchased government land under the Foreigners Act were well-known people, including traders, and no land was purchased by any Afghan national.
Riaz Pirzada, of the PML-Q, criticised the import of substandard skimmed milk and said it was responsible for the rise in heart diseases.
The government denied the charge and said the imported milk was first vetted by international companies before sending it to Pakistan. And the customs staff vet it after the consignment reached the country.The government was also criticised for holding trade fairs in countries whose imports from Pakistan were negligible. Legislators advise the government to concentrate on Dubai instead.
The government said it had imported wheat from Bulgaria, Canada, Romania, Russia, Switzerland and Ukraine.
In reply to a point of order raised by Sheikh Waqas Akram of the PML-Q, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that victims of the Dera Ismail Khan bomb blast would be compensated. He said that the parliamentary committee on national security would soon be briefed on drone attacks in tribal areas.
The chairman of the committee and minister for inter-provincial coordination, Raza Rabbani, said he had been informed by the NWFP IG that there was no casualty in the US missile attack in Bannu on Wednesday.