Daily Times

Concluding the budget debate in National Assembly, Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Friday announced adjusted revenue measures as well as government’s spending plans for fiscal year 2021-22.

Addressing a session of the National Assembly, chaired by Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, the minister responded to the recommendations made by the senators and the opposition. In his speech, Tarin emphasised on ‘comprehensive and sustainable development’ in FY22. “We will give interest free loans up to Rs 300,000 for agriculture. An interest free loan of up to Rs 500,000 will be given to an individual for doing business in urban areas,” he announced.

He said there would be no tax on internet usage and SMS, while 75 paisa would be collected as tax for every mobile phone call exceeding the duration of five minutes.

The finance minister said the tax on gold and silver has been reduced from 17% to 1-3%. However, the 17% tax on the value addition of gold will remain. No tax has been levied on wheat or its byproducts, while the tax on 1,000cc cars will be reduced and the tax on dairy products and medical devices is being withdrawn, he said. “We are bringing the idea of agri malls to get rid of the middle man’s role,” he said, explaining that the network of agri malls will be spread across Pakistan to rid the farmer of middle man’s current 400-500% profit margin.

He said e-commerce tax is being ended and registered e-commerce companies have to pay zero tax. “We will continue to provide incentives for textiles. We will introduce my car scheme. All the demands of the IT sector have been met as well,” he said. Under the government final budget plans, every citizen can get a housing loan from banks. Low income households, meanwhile, will be given a targeted subsidy for electricity and wheat.

Tarin also shared that Imran Khan has refused to increase the electricity tariff, while Rs260 billion has been set aside for the Ehsaas program this year. The government has allotted $1.1 billion for coronavirus vaccines and set aside Rs5 billion to introduce an electronic voting system. He said previous governments did not set money aside in the budget for dams as they thought such projects will not be completed in their tenure. “Imran Khan has set aside money in the budget for a dam project,” he said.

The finance minister said that the government has increased the annual PSDP by 40% from Rs630 billion to Rs900 billion.