ISLAMABAD: The upper house of the Parliament on Friday continued discussion on Finance Bill-2017, containing the annual budget statement, under article 73 of the constitution.
Participating in the discussion, Senator Javed Abbasi appreciated the Minister for Finance for resenting a balanced budget which is being hailed by all segments of society. He said that despite several challenges at time when PML-N came into power but due to its strong economic strategy, now the country is on path of economic progress.
He said that special attention was paid on energy sector and several mega projects were initiated in this sector. He said that international economy monitors declared country’s economy as emerging economy and termed government’s policies as best financial discipline.
He said that present GDP remained at highest level in ten years. He said that more people were included in tax net with focus on revenue generation. He added foreign exchange reserves also increased during the tenure of present government. He said that the government has paid special attention on promotion of agriculture sector while several incentives have been announced for farmers including agriculture loans for them.
He said that there was plan to set up 1000 new stitching units to promote textile industry. He said that the government was working to overcome the load shedding issue by adding 10,000 MW in the system. He said that Rs 401 billion has been allocated for energy sector projects in the budget while allocation has been made for Dashu Dam.
He added Rs 35 billion has been allocated for higher education while sufficient allocation has been made for provision of soft drinking water. Senator Rehman Malik said that efforts should be made to increase foreign remittances. He added steps should be taken for promotion of overseas employment while new passport and NADRA offices should be set up in foreign missions to maximum facilitate the overseas Pakistanis. He said that more allocations should be made for law enforcement agencies while anti-narcotics force should be further strengthened.
Senator Usman Kakar said that poor and destitute segments of the society should be given more relief in the budget. He said that strategy is needed for proper utilization of available resources. He said that adequate funds should be allocated for less developed areas of the country in the budget to change the life of common man.
He said that more allocations should be made for education and health sector. He said that more funds should be allocated for initiating development projects in Balochistan province. He said that focus should also be paid on agriculture reforms.
