Daily Times

The Lawmakers in the National Assembly on Friday demanded allocation of more funds for construction of new water reservoirs in the financial year 2023-24 to meet water and energy requirements of the country.

Participating in the National Assembly debate on the federal budget, they highlighted key points of the fiscal plan tabled before the House for achieving economic stability and the growth targets.

Muhammad Afzal Khokhar of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) praised Prime Minister Shahbez Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for presenting a balanced budget that prioritized the needs of the common man and farmers. He also acknowledged the government’s efforts in improving the road infrastructure across the country and supporting the much needed reforms in the agriculture sector, considered backbone of the national economy. Khokhar commended the government’s decision to increase salaries and pensions of government employees and provide laptops to students, enabling them to acquire modern skills needed to get education matching the international market requirement. He pointed out that former Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif initiated significant projects in the field of health, infrastructure development and laying a wide network of motorways and building new water reservoirs.

Nasir Khan Musazai of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) demanded allocation of additional funds for the construction of dams, emphasizing the importance of addressing the problems faced by underprivileged citizens.

PPPP’s Mir Amer Ali Khan Magsi endorsed the sentiments of MNA Musazai, declaring the government’s allocation for construction of new water reservoirs in the federal budget ‘insufficient.’

Appreciating the government’s focus on agriculture sector, Magsi suggested taking along all stakeholders from the agriculture sector while finalizing policies as it would help get better production of various crops.

Minister for Defence Production Sardar Muhammad Israr Tareen strongly condemned the May 9 incident and asserted that it was not an act perpetrated by an external enemy.

He also supported the resolution passed by the National Assembly, calling for the trial of individuals involved in the incident under the Army Act without any single-day delay.

Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh of PML-N drew attention of the House towards Pakistan’s defense budget saying that its arch rival India’s defence budget was almost 14-time higher. He urged the government to promote small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as this sector had the great potential to move the economic wheel at the faster pace and strengthen the national economy.

In response to discussions about Pakistan’s financial situation, Sheikh refuted claims of an impending default and highlighted that Pakistan’s total assets amounted to approximately $4000.

However, he acknowledged the current cash flow issues faced by the country, and asked foreign investors to consider investing in diverse sectors of Pakistan and there existed tremendous potential of business because of the friendly policies announced by the government.

Syed Abrar Ali Shah of Pakistan Peoples Parliamentarian (PPPP) acknowledged that the present government presented the budget despite difficult economic situation, keeping in view the hardships of the common man and setting achievable development targets for the next fiscal year.

He appreciated the measure proposed in the budget for increasing the salaries and pensions of the government employees to mitigate their financial miseries in the scenario of increased inflation. He asked for allocation more development funds for the Sindh province and paying pending amount to execute the ongoing schemes at a faster pace.

He condemned the incidents of May 9 and criticized the leadership and workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) for vandalism of military installations and memorials of martyrs just because of their ouster from the power through a constitutional way. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Lawmaker Mehnaz Akbar Aziz termed the federal budget the ‘best one’ and appreciated the incumbent government for adopting an effective strategy to pull the country out of financial crisis and avoided the looming threat of default.

She said results of the prudent policies adopted by the government had started yielding the required results as inexpensive oil and gas started arriving Pakistan from Russia and Azerbaijan respectively. The PML-N expressed confidence that the government’s effective fiscal plan, which covered all sectors, would usher a new era of progress and development in the country as the macroeconomic indicators started moving towards stability.