ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman on Tuesday expressed dismay over the budget presented by the federal gov
ernment.
“The gov
ernment just stripped people of hope for a better life by telling them it is blithe
ly continuing to tax them to pay for its profligate spending. It is appalling to observe that around 82 to 85 percent of the taxes gained are indirect. The brunt of these failed policies is borne by the poor citizens of the country. They are the ones reeling from power outages. They do not have access to generators, they do not have the cash to buy an extra fan or pay their utility bills,” Rehman said while addressing the Senate.
Senator Rehman said the tax-filer base was withering. &#
8220;For a country that cannot pay for itself and wants to be sovereign, how is that the tax-filer base is shrinking? Should the poor also shoulder the lavish expenditure of the gov
ernment?” she asked.
“This is the first gov
ernment where the finance minister is patting his own back for the farcical record trade imbalance. The gov
ernment has projected a current account deficit of $10.4 bi
llion due to an increase of $26.9 bi
llion in trade deficit, including Rs 401 bi
llion in circular debt. Instead of being ashamed, they are celebrating for reasons unknown,” she said.
“Big numbers are a proof that the exports are massively declining and the imports are rising. For a country that is the 4th largest cotton producer in the world, how are our exports in such a dire situation? You cannot blame the trade imbalance on CPEC fuelled imports. How can the exports go down to almost $3 bi
llion as compared to PPP’s tenure when oil prices were much higher than what they are today?” Rehman asked.
&#
8220;From Kashmir to Karachi, the country is under darkness. Not only due to loadshedding, but because we are drowning in debt. On top of that, the gov
ernment has added surcharges on electricity, which will inadvertently make the poor poorer under these new schemes,” she said.
“The national debt has reached dangerous proportions, but here we are being told that the incumbent gov
ernment will not require another IMF bailout. Of course we will, we are already planning to borrow $8.1 bi
llion in new loans, on international bond markets where no development finance rates are available, instead there are high interest rates,” Rehman said.
“With
external debt and liabilities growing by $6.5 bi
llion this year, the debt stands at a staggering Rs 20.25 trillion. All this bank borrowing, treasury bills, permanent debt, project loans,
external loans will be paid for by future taxes,” she said.
The senator voiced her concerns on the “outrageous” supplementary budget. “At least do not insult the people of Pakistan by charging an over-run of 19 percent on the supplementary budget. This expenditure was not approved by the Parliament,” she said.
“Over Rs 227 bi
llion has been allocated for PM’s pet schemes and the proposed Public Sector Development Programme further includes 153 schemes which will cost a whopping Rs 9.2 tri
llion to complete. Prioritising these business generating projects instead of spending on human capital is further going to cripple the nation,” she said.
“Just to put things in perspective, if the Rs 310 bi
llion supplementary budget were to be saved, 20 mi
llion Lady Health Workers could be added to our tattered primary health system. Or 1.7 mi
llion teachers could be hired for our 22 mi
llion children out of school. Unfortunately, the money is going to leisurely expenditures and debt servicing which sums up to Rs 1.65 tri
llion of the total budget,” the senator said.
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