Islamabad:
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) President Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Thursday outlined his party’s reasons for supporting the PML-N-led reigning coalition’s second budget and said key changes were made on the basis of PPP’s input.
Bilawal, who dealt with the National Assembly prior to the budget’s passage, explained why PPP parliamentarians – a larger coalition partner – had decided to support the financial proposal despite previous objections.
PPP’s support comes just days after it strongly criticized the federal budget and accused the government of discriminating against Sindh and threatens to boycott the approval process. A similar standoff happened last year between PPP and PML-N, which PTI had described as a “fixed match” intended to divert public control.
Nevertheless, things remained pretty much quiet between PPP and PML-N during this year’s budget meeting.
In his speech, Bilawal noted that the government had increased funding for Benazir Income Support Program (Bisp), a welfare scheme introduced by its mother and former Premier Benazir Bhutto, by 20 percent.
The PPP leader criticized the previous PTI government for trying to undermine Bisp in any budget and famous the current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to consistently increase his financing since he assumed the office.
The PPP chairman also noted that the government raised the income limit for tax exemption from RS600,000 to RS1.2 million annually. In addition, he emphasized that the tax on solar panels was reduced from 18 percent to 10 percent after objection raised by PPP members.
Bilawal also greeted the decision to limit the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR )’s arrest forces. According to the new policy, arrests in tax cases can now only be made in the event of proven fraud and not at the study stage. In addition, such offenses have been declared as guarantee. “These are the reasons why PPP supports this budget,” he said.
Previously, the PPP chairman was chairman of a meeting with the PPP parliamentary party participating by all PPP legislators. During the session, PPP members informed Bilawal about their proposals regarding the federal budget. He was also informed of the changes incorporated into the budget as a result of PPP’s input.
Bilawal received a detailed briefing on acceptance of the party’s demand for a 20% increase in the budget for the Bisp program, states a party’s statement and added that he was also estimated that the tax on solar panels has been cut by almost 50% in response to PPP’s consistent advocacy.
Bilawal was also informed of how the government drew the controversial changes in the context of FBR’s powers to arrest due to PPP’s strong reservations. Following PPP’s proposal, the PPP legislators were told that the federal budget now includes a 10% increase in government salaries and an increase of 7% in pensions.
In addition, PPP legislators were informed that the party ensured complete exemption from income tax for employees who earned up to RS100,000 per year. Month. Another important achievement that was highlighted during the briefing was the restoration of budget distributions to universities in Sindh according to PPP’s demand.
