He alleged the government looked only for point-scoring at the cost of credibility. He was sceptical of the government's claim of 5.3 GDP growth this year. Mandviwalla claimed the budget had nothing for lifting education sector with over 20 million kids out of school, while Rs 20 billion had been allocated for laptop scheme.
He contended that the government failed to devise a strategy to arrest the continuous alarming slide of exports and fall in remittances from overseas Pakistanis and that the number of Pakistanis going abroad for job and work has also come down.
He questioned the government's claim of making Pakistan an Asian Tiger with 20 million plus children out of school while five years back, exports were worth $ 25 billion, which had come down to $ 20 billion. At the same time, exports by Bangladesh and Vietnam had been doubled during these years. He opposed the increase in capital gain tax and said that the government had promised that the super tax would be for just one year, but it was being collected for the third consecutive year.
Senator Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Noman Wazir Khattak said that his party is ready to sign charter of economy with the government 'any time, anywhere, any place', as there should be no politics on economy at all. Taking part in budget debate in Senate, he said that poverty is to be eradicated in the country and the Planning Commission of Pakistan has to play a lead role. "Come and sit with us on June 12, and we are ready for charter of economy," he added.
He said that institutions like railways and Pakistan Steel Mills should be privatised. About the broadening of tax net, he said that all the data of the rich is available with National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), and the only problem is that the government has no intention to bring the rich in the tax net.
He severely criticised Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Haroon Akhtar Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Revenue, for ignoring pre-budget proposals floated by private sector about broadening the tax net. He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the only province where the government can produce cheapest hydel power but it is bent upon making investment in coal power projects which is ten times expensive.
About China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he said that the government has given 3000 acres of land in Gwadar to China for establishing an export processing zone (EPZ) which will be disastrous for the local industry and there will be influx of Chinese products in the market.
Sajjad Toori, a senator from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), demanded that the tribal areas should be handed over to the military as it is at least more paying attention to the uplift of the area then a democratically elected government.
"There is nothing for FATA in this budget. The FATA reforms which took some two years in finalisation are hanging in the balance. The backwardness of tribal areas is still there despite having a democratically elected government in the centre, so we want to hand over FATA to the military," he added. Senator Azam Khan Swati of PTI said that there is nothing for social sector reform in the budget as 63 per cent of the budget will be spent on infrastructure. He said, "Unless we give priority to human development and spend more money on education, we will not be able to overcome poverty."
He said that the economic managers of the country have no idea what the major issues are which need to be resolved on war footing, adding the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the only province where there is huge potential for making investment in hydel sector.
"But the people who control our economy are focusing on more expensive power projects and that is the reason they have failed to overcome the power crisis. Again I would say this budget has badly exposed the government," he added. He also regretted that the allocation made in the budget for education is the reason the youth of the country are exploited by militant organisations like ISIS. He alleged that the reason Saudi Arabia has struck billions of rupees arms deal with US is not to curb terrorism but to use them against another Muslim country belonging to different school of thought.
"This Saudi doctrine is followed here, and unless we spend on education sector, we will not be able to root out the menace of terrorism from the country, and it is unfortunate the government is paying no attention towards human development," he maintained.
PML-N's Chaudhry Tanvir Khan praised the budget and said the targets to be achieved by 2050 have been achieved in four years, adding if the present hardworking and sincere team continues working, the model of Pakistan's progress and prosperity would be taught in other countries. He supported the government on what he called ending unproductive subsidies and needless inductions in government departments. He claimed the government has equally treated all the four provinces and brought peace in Balochistan and Khyber Pakthunkhwa.
Earlier in the morning, Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar rushed to the Senate after opposition strongly objected to what they alleged the government's non-seriousness towards Senate, referring to presence of low-grade ministry officials in the gallery to take notes.
Raza Rabbani suspended the proceedings for 30 minutes. Rabbani also expressed concern over inadequate representation from the ministry. The opposition senators proposed that the sitting be adjourned till next day with a warning to the government that adequate representation of the concerned officials be ensured during budget speeches.
They pointed out that House is going to debate the Finance Bill but finance minister, finance secretary and any additional secretary are not present to listen to the MPs' speeches.
After the House resumed following the suspension, Dar assured the senators that the government gives due importance to the Senate and last year also, some 80 recommendations of the House were accommodated in the budget. He said due to ailment, his ministry's joint secretary could not lead his team in the gallery that day and he also could not timely inform about his non-availability. He added the additional secretary is on his way to be present in the gallery. Regarding concerns of ANP Senator Ilyas Bilour and some other members, he said that allocations from the gross divisible pool of the provinces for FATA, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan would not affect their (provinces') share.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017