In a last-ditch effort to finish the upcoming 9th review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, the National Assembly enacted the Federal Budget 2023–24 on Sunday by incorporating major revisions to the Finance Bill 2023.
National Assembly approves budget FY24: Only 70 members of the legislature sat on the treasury benches and two were on the opposition benches throughout the session, which lacked a quorum.
Ishaq Dar, the finance minister, defended the government’s decision to pursue several reforms in the pensions system as the session got underway.
“If a person works on a contract basis, he must select between the two pensions. However, in the event of the spouse’s demise, the pension payments to their dependents would be discontinued for an additional 10 years.
The widowed spouse of a pensioner will receive the stipend, according to Dar. However, if the spouse were to pass away, the pension payments to their dependents would cease for a period of 10 years.
“In this budget, our pension bill increased to $800 billion. It is a large sum. It was half the way a few years ago,” Dar remarked, adding that these adjustments were necessary at the time.
In an effort to finish the pending 9th review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, the government revised the budget for FY24 on Saturday by raising new taxes to Rs438 billion, Rs223 billion on June 9, 2023, and new additional taxes of Rs215 billion, as well as cutting expenditure by Rs85 billion.
“Finance Minister Ishaq Dar Announces Budget Changes: New Taxes and Spending Cuts in Focus”
During a floor speech, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar stated that they made the budget changes to conclude the ongoing review following Prime Minister Shehbaz Shehbaz’s meeting with the IMF’s Managing Director (MD) and subsequent discussions between the economic team and the Fund.
Dar announced that they will introduce new taxes amounting to Rs215 billion, while simultaneously reducing spending by Rs85 billion. He emphasized that these adjustments will have no impact on the budget for development or the increase in pay and benefits for public employees.
He stated that these adjustments resulted in raising the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) target for tax collection in the upcoming fiscal year from the initial projection of Rs9200 billion to Rs9,415 billion, along with an increase in the provinces’ portion from Rs5276 billion to Rs5399 billion.
According to the finance minister, the federal government’s spending has grown from Rs14,460 billion to Rs14,480 billion, while the amount allotted for pensions would increase from Rs751 billion to Rs801 billion.