‘Mini-budget’ tabled in NA amid ruckus

ISLAMABAD:

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Thursday introduced the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021 or the “mini-budget” in the National Assembly amid vociferous protest by the opposition lawmakers.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Amendment Bill 2021 was also presented in the House, which was referred to the relevant standing committee for vetting.

Earlier in the day, Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted that the federal cabinet had given the nod to the supplementary finance bill.

The bill was earlier scheduled to be presented in parliament on Wednesday but the cabinet had deferred its approval as it wanted "threadbare discussion" on it.

Its approval is necessary to ensure that the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) executive board clears the country’s sixth review of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility on January 12 for the disbursement of about $1 billion tranche.

 

Speaker Asad Qaisar said the bill would not be forwarded to the standing committee concerned.

The lower house of parliament also adopted various resolutions extending various ordinances for a period of 120 days including The Election (Third Amendment) Ordinance.

The Federal Government Properties Management Authority Ordinance, 2021, The Public Properties (Removal of Encroachment) Ordinance, 2021, The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021, The Pakistan Food Security Flow and Information Ordinance, 2021 and The Tax Laws (Third Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 were also among the resolutions that were passed. The House adopted the resolutions with a majority vote amid uproar from the opposition benches.

It became clear at the outset that the opposition was not prepared to meet the numerical majority to oppose the two bills as its key leadership, including the leader of the opposition in the NA, were not present in the session.

As the proceedings started, despite the absence of PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, opposition members tore copies of the agenda and surrounded the speaker’s dais. They vehemently protested while Tarin was reading the items listed on the agenda.

 An intense protest against the bills escalated into fisticuffs between opposition lawmaker Shagufta Jamani and PTI MNA Ghazala Saifi.

PPP’s Syed Naveed Qamar while raising objections over extending the election amendment ordinance, said after its expiry the move was against the rules of parliament.

Also read: Cabinet okays SBP bill, defers mini-budget

Adviser to the PM on Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan responded that the assembly proceedings were being carried out under the prescribed rules and procedures.

The speaker also ruled that the resolution for extension in the election amendment ordinance was legitimate.

Speaking on the floor of the house, PML-N leader Khawaja Asif, while referring to the SBP bill, accused the PTI-led government of compromising on country’s economic sovereignty.

While urging the House not to approve the SBP bill, Asif said the country’s central bank had been “handed over to the IMF”. “Please have mercy on the people of Pakistan. Don't sell Pakistan. You allowed people to loot the country for three years," he said.

"Surrendering Pakistan's economic sovereignty is more dangerous than that of the surrender in 1971," he added, while referring to the East Pakistan debacle.

The PML-N leader called it a “day of shame” for the speaker’s chair and parliament in the history.

Responding to the PML-N leader, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar maintained that the opposition had been trying to "scare the nation" by making an issue over the SBP amendment bill.

"A Pakistani leader is speaking about surrendering the country's sovereignty. I call that shameful," he added.

The minister also criticised the opposition for firing a broadside at the government over national security.

"They invited [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi to their house," he noted, in an apparent reference to PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.

On opposition’s criticism over PTI’s defeat in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Umar said his party had won more seats than the combined seats of the PPP, PML-N and ANP.

On Tuesday, the cabinet had approved the SBP amendment bill to give absolute autonomy to the central bank in a bid to qualify for the $1 billion loan.

The bill has been approved to bring amendments to the SBP Act of 1956 as part of one of the conditions of the IMF and on the desire of the SBP governor.

Many of the clauses that the federal government had earlier termed “unconstitutional” are still part of the revised bill after the IMF refused to budge from its position.

PPP MNA Raja Pervaiz Ashraf noted that during the last session, which was chaired by Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, he had told the chair that there were reports of the government tabling a mini-budget in the House.

"I had said that it will make life more difficult for the people of Pakistan, but the chair had dismissed my concerns," he added. "When, in fact, that was the time for the opposition to speak on the matter."

Ashraf also said that in his response to Asif, Umar had not addressed any of the questions and issues raised by the PML-N leader.

"He [Umar] has failed to satisfy this House.”

The PPP leader urged the speaker to reject Thursday's proceedings so that opposition and treasury members could present fresh arguments on the matters taken up in the session.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the opposition had the right to present its point of view. However, he added that the government's job was to “put forth facts before people".

As Qureshi continued to speak, the opposition pointed towards the lack of quorum in the House. Responding to the opposition's objection, the speaker adjourned the session till December 31.

Tarin while addressing a news conference after the NA session said that tax exemptions of worth Rs343 billion on various sectors would be withdrawn under the supplementary finance bill.

He also dispelled the notion that the so-called mini-budget will unleash a new wave of inflation, saying that of the total additional taxes, common man would only bear a burden of Rs2 billion.

Besides, Tarin also said many taxes on import of machinery and pharmaceutical raw material were either “refundable or adjustable”.

The SBP amendment bill, he added, was in line with the PTI government’s vision to empower the institutions of the country.