Deemed as ‘budget of masses’, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government presented its first federal budget on Tuesday for the fiscal year 2019-20.
The Rs6 trillion (Dh147.32 billion) budget was announced in the National Assembly a day after Imran’s government released the latest round of bleak economic figures for the cash-strapped country, showing growth for the current fiscal year falling to 3.3 per cent – well below the 6.2 per cent target.
In the austerity-austerity-focused budget, salaries of ministers and advisors have been cut by 10 per cent while minimum wages have been increased.
The problem is not of [the arrests of] Nawaz Sharif or Asif Zardari. The question is which direction the country
is going in.
– Bilawal Zardari Bhutto, Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party
Hammad Azhar, Minister of State for Revenue, who presented the budget amidst protest from the opposition benches, admitted that there has been no increase in exports in the past five years.
Though the minister revealed that measures taken by the PTI-led government have resulted in remittances rising by $2bn, and Rs12bn decrease per month in circular debt in the energy sector, overseas Pakistanis were again ignored as no incentives were announced for them.
During his speech, opposition benches tore the copies of budget documents and chanted anti-government and anti-Imran slogans. They also protested against the arrest of opposition leaders, including former President Asif Ali Zardari and the PML-N leader Hamza Sharif ahead of the budget.
