MULTAN, June 7th;Political leaders of South Punjab have criticized the World Bank and the IMF dictated federal budget saying it would make the common man to further buckle under the burden of price hike and said the strategy to meet deficit worth Rs700 billion with the borrowings, would lead the national economy to slide down the steep.They stressed the need f adoption of the inexpensive energy resources that the ends relating poverty alleviation and employment opportunities could be achieved, he believed.PML-N's Senior Vice President Makhdoom Javed Hashmi has said the federal budget would further ramp up the burden of price hike on the public and resultantly, the problems faced by the poor, would snowball.
The PML-N leader said the federal government did nothing positive and concrete to bring the economy back on track in actuality, adding the betterment could be infused into national economy by acting on strategy of self-reliance sans loans.
Hashmi said apparently government has not announced imposition of any new taxes on food items which may help stabilization in their prices, however previous experiences bears testimony that the possibility of new taxes in the near future cannot be ruled out.He said that levying of 10 to 15 percent federal excise duty on electronic items, including Deep freezer, refrigerators and air conditioners, may affect a substantial section of the population, as these items have become household necessities with the passage of time and their increasing rates would have harmful impact on their daily sales. He opined that government had a better alternative of revenue generation by taxing items used by opulent segment of the population.Rana Mehmood-ul-Hassan,MNA and chairman of National Assembly's standing committee on ports and Shipping said the budget was balanced, adding that the government had tried to pull the country out of the financial crisis.He said the government had accepted the PML's stance on the Value Added Tax and had decided to reform the General Sales Tax system from October 2010. He hoped the budget would bring change in the country if all the announced measures were implemented. Financial experts in South Punjab on Sunday termed the 2010-11 budget a “wish list”, saying it lacks all production-oriented objectives as it is centred on deficit-controlling tactics, with the only positive being the relief provided to government employees. Pakistan Democratic Party Chief Nawabzada Mansoor Ahmed Khan said the budget is dictated by the World Bank and the IMF, and can hardly be called 'people-friendly'.Without expanding the tax base, the government can never generate enough revenue needed to run the country smoothly. It is important to provide extensive subsidies to the poor and downtrodden segment of the population.He added. Traders from Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur expressed mixed reactions on Federal 2010-11 budget and termed the budget “a big disappointment” for both trade and industry. The finance minister has failed to come up with any solid plans for the economic revival of the country they said. Khawaja Muhammad Shafiq Chairman of Pakistan Traders Alliance, Khalid Mehmood Qureshi President of Small Traders Alliance,and Malik Nazir Ahmed Awan have also expressed their dissatisfaction with the budget, saying it has brought no visible measures for the revival of the industry and economy and no actions to control the inflation rate, which had surpassed the 12 percent mark.
The PML-N leader said the federal government did nothing positive and concrete to bring the economy back on track in actuality, adding the betterment could be infused into national economy by acting on strategy of self-reliance sans loans.
Hashmi said apparently government has not announced imposition of any new taxes on food items which may help stabilization in their prices, however previous experiences bears testimony that the possibility of new taxes in the near future cannot be ruled out.He said that levying of 10 to 15 percent federal excise duty on electronic items, including Deep freezer, refrigerators and air conditioners, may affect a substantial section of the population, as these items have become household necessities with the passage of time and their increasing rates would have harmful impact on their daily sales. He opined that government had a better alternative of revenue generation by taxing items used by opulent segment of the population.Rana Mehmood-ul-Hassan,MNA and chairman of National Assembly's standing committee on ports and Shipping said the budget was balanced, adding that the government had tried to pull the country out of the financial crisis.He said the government had accepted the PML's stance on the Value Added Tax and had decided to reform the General Sales Tax system from October 2010. He hoped the budget would bring change in the country if all the announced measures were implemented. Financial experts in South Punjab on Sunday termed the 2010-11 budget a “wish list”, saying it lacks all production-oriented objectives as it is centred on deficit-controlling tactics, with the only positive being the relief provided to government employees. Pakistan Democratic Party Chief Nawabzada Mansoor Ahmed Khan said the budget is dictated by the World Bank and the IMF, and can hardly be called 'people-friendly'.Without expanding the tax base, the government can never generate enough revenue needed to run the country smoothly. It is important to provide extensive subsidies to the poor and downtrodden segment of the population.He added. Traders from Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur expressed mixed reactions on Federal 2010-11 budget and termed the budget “a big disappointment” for both trade and industry. The finance minister has failed to come up with any solid plans for the economic revival of the country they said. Khawaja Muhammad Shafiq Chairman of Pakistan Traders Alliance, Khalid Mehmood Qureshi President of Small Traders Alliance,and Malik Nazir Ahmed Awan have also expressed their dissatisfaction with the budget, saying it has brought no visible measures for the revival of the industry and economy and no actions to control the inflation rate, which had surpassed the 12 percent mark.
