ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has said the target of next year’s budget is fiscal consolidation and provision of relief to the masses.

Addressing the post budget press conference here in Islamabad on Saturday along with the Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb, and Minister of State for Finance Aisha Ghaus Pasha, he said the budget of Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) has been increased by thirty-five to forty percent.

He said flour, sugar and ghee will be provided on discounted rates at Utility Stores Corporation throughout the year. He said the government has taken difficult decisions keeping in view the interest of the country. We have reduced our expenditures as well as subsidy on power and gas to reduce deficits, he added.

The Finance Minister said that tax collection target of over seven thousand billions rupees has been set for next fiscal year while non-tax revenue target has been set at two thousand billion rupees. He said the debt servicing has been estimated at 3950 billion rupees.

He said we have imposed additional taxes on the well-off people while efforts have been made to reduce the tax on personal income tax. He said Pakistan is a dignified nuclear power state and we will have to correct the course of our economy.

Alluding to the soaring prices of palm oil in the international market, the Finance Minister said the package of 20 billion rupees have been given to promote the cultivation of oil seeds. He said special emphasis is being given to bolster our exports, expressing the confidence that these will touch 35 billion dollars mark in the next fiscal year.

In her remarks, Minister of State for Finance Aisha Ghaus Pasha said that our aim is to ensure economic stability and take the country towards the track of growth. She said the philosophy of the budget in these difficult times had been to put minimum burden on the common man.

She said we are providing relief to the common man and this includes the cash amount of two thousand rupees to the deserving families. Aisha Ghaus Pasha said that subsidy has been given to the farmers to enhance agro productivity and cut the import bill of food items.

She said reducing budget deficit and non-imposition of indirect taxes are anti-inflationary measures which were taken to protect the poor. She clarified that the salary raise of fifteen percent has been given on the pay scales of 2017 and then the ad hoc reliefs will be merged.

The Finance Minister said the Budget 2022-23 preparation was the “most difficult” thing to do as the country was going through a very critical phase. He criticized the former government for not taking steps to resolve the issues.

During the current fiscal year, the Finance Minister said the government gave over Rs1100-billion subsidy to the power sector. He maintained that they have to pay Rs500billion for the losses incurred by the power companies. “It means the government of Pakistan is giving Rs16 per unit subsidy,” he added.

“We are generating Rs30-35 per unit of electricity,” he said and claimed that they have the most efficient power generation plants in the world. He said bad administration, flawed rate fixation system, transmission and distribution losses and other issues were major reasons behind the high power generation rate.

The Finance Minister said that Rs400billion subsidy was given to the gas sector. He maintained that they would not let any factory be closed as they provide jobs to the people. The government is facing losses in the gas sector, he said, adding that it is not known whether the gas is being stolen or it is evaporating.

Miftah Ismail said in violation of the agreements signed with the IMF, the previous government gave subsidies on fuel. He said Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif took difficult decisions for the sake of the country and now the country has left no option other than tough decisions. He l said we have imposed additional taxes on the well-off people while efforts have been made to reduce the tax on personal income tax.

The Finance Minister said Pakistan is a dignified nuclear power state and we will have to correct the course of our economy. Highlighting another “significant” development announced in the Finance Bill 2023, Miftah Ismail said they have introduced a new dispute resolution mechanism to solve cases involving the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

“Earlier, the FBR officials were empowered to decide who would head the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committees (ADRCs) but it has been changed now,” he added. Under the new mechanism, the FBR would select one referee and the complainant would select one and both of these nominees will choose the third individual who would act as an umpire. “The decision will be based on the majority,” he said, adding that it would help address the concerns raised by the business community.

The Finance Minister said that Imran Khan and his team were incompetent and were involved in corruption, adding that they borrowed more than all previous governments. He maintained that our first priority was preventing the country from becoming Sri Lanka. As part of the government efforts to mitigate the impact of fuel price hike, the deserving people will start receiving Rs2,000 from June, he said.

In addition to this, the Finance Minister said that Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz has launched the “Sasta Ataa Scheme” to provide relief to the poor. He maintained that the Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments will also provide wheat flour to the masses at cheaper rates.