Finance Bill 2011: NA concludes debate on budget

Adopts all 66 recommendations by Senate.

ISLAMABAD:

Endorsing the recommendations of senators in the Finance Bill 2011, members of the National Assembly demanded their incorporation in the budget for the next fiscal year before it is passed during the on-going session of the assembly.

In a rare agreement during the budget debate, which concluded on Thursday, both the treasury and opposition benches asked the finance minister to positively consider and include the senators’ 66 recommendations stipulating certain crucial changes in the budget document.

“There was no rocket science involved in plugging the leakages in the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) as suggested by the senate, only political will was required” said Information Secretary Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Ahsan Iqbal while noting that the 18th Amendment had strengthened the role of Senate in the budget making process.

The senate’s suggestion to curtail allocations for foreign tours including that of the president and prime minister also caught his eye.

Yasmeen Rehman and Azra Fazal Pechuho from the PPP endorsed certain recommendations by the senators. Pechuho particularly asked for more allocations for the provision of gas in districts of Balochistan which were not supplied so far.

All three MNAs also supported the suggestion to reduce all administrative expenses by 25 per cent by the government and the raise in minimum wage up to Rs8,000 per month.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2011.