Senate continues debate on federal budget for FY 2021-22

Islamabad: Senators of treasury and opposition benches in the Upper House on Wednesday continued debate on the federal budget for fiscal year 2021-22.

The treasury benches appreciated the government for presenting pro-people and business friendly budget, while the opposition lawmakers criticized that no relief was given to the masses.

Resuming budget debate, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Mohsin Aziz lauded Prime Minister Imran Khan and his economic team for presenting pro-poor budget for the fiscal year 2021-22.

He said despite COVID-19 pandemic, the government has made record achievements and recovered the country economy.

He said that country’s exports, foreign remittances and foreign exchanges reserves also recorded upward trends due to the prudent policies of the government.

He said that previous government had placed landmines for PTI government which were successfully removed and economy was on put back on right track.

Senator Mohsin severely criticized the previous governments for destroying country institutions and various sectors including health, education, trade and economy.

He said that lawmakers should use their status for the welfare of the nation, instead of criticizing budget for the sake of speeches in the house.

He said that previous government had installed the world expensive power plants and caused huge losses to the national exchequer.

Participating in the budget debate, Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Javed Khan said that when PTI came to power, the country was facing serious economic difficulties and challenges.

He said the present government first mission was to recover the economy of the country. He said that the economy was on upward trajectory due to the pro-active policies of the present government.

He said that previous governments have ruined all the institutions in the past. He said that despite COVID-19 pandemic, the country economy had made record growth. He said that the whole world acknowledged and highly appreciated the successful strategy of Pakistan. He said that agriculture and industry also showed growth despite all the challenges.

Faisal Javed said that PTI government was constructing ten mega dams in the country. He said that Capital Development Authority (CDA) was facing huge deficit of 5.8 billion in 2017 and now surplus Rs. 73 billion.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan was not making personal properties but purely working for the welfare of the people of the country. He said that PM Khan has also no properties abroad.

Senator Faisal said in a total contrast to the former rulers, Prime Minister Imran Khan had no camp office and had been residing in his personal house instead of the PM House. He said that the former prime ministers maintained many camp offices, besides the palatial PM House, spending huge amount of the public money.

Faisal Javed Khan said the previous rulers used to embark on foreign tours with big entourages costing millions of dollars to the public exchequer, Prime Minister Imran Khan made the trips abroad with minimum expenses.

He said that PTI government initiated the Ehsaas Programme, which aimed at providing relief to poor, workers and labourers.

Contrarily, the former rulers did not take any steps for the welfare of downtrodden people, he added. He said that world appreciating Ehsaas program as providing shelter to the poor segment and labourers.

He said that Panagahs and Langarkhanas were also opened by the government for the poor segment. He said that Health Insurance Cards were also issued to the people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and providing universal health coverage. He said that this revolution in the whole health system. He said that Health Cards would be issued to people in Punjab and Gilgit Baltistan.

Taking part in debate, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman said that instead of criticizing each others, the lawmakers should speak on the challenges being faced by the country.

She said that government should consult with provinces and resolve the issues related to National Finance Commission (NFC) award. She stressed for devising a comprehensive strategy for tackling the situation erupting due to withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.

Participating in the budget debate, PTI Senator Waleed Iqbal said that the country current account deficit was surplus after ten years, adding that foreign exchanges reserves were upto $ 23 billion dollar, remittances touched the highest level and record exports target was achieved.

He said that the present government has set target of $ 35 billion for exports for coming fiscal year. He said that 4 per cent growth was recorded despite COVID-19 pandemic.

Waleed Iqbal said the previous government had left the economy into deep drain. He said the economy was recovered due to the pro-active policies of the present government.

He said that the government has allocated maximum funds for all the sectors including development, health, environment, transportation and development plans for provinces including Gilgit-Baltistan.

Senator Waleed Iqbal said that present government had launched the “Ehsaas” program aiming to reduce inequality, invest in people, and lift lagging districts.

PML-N Senator Dr. Afnan Ullah Khan criticized the budget proposal for the fiscal year 2021-22. He said that the government had ignored many sectors in the budget proposal.

Senator Samina Mumtaz s appreciated the government for presenting pro-people budget.

Prof. Sajid Mir said that government should increase salaries of the government employees by 20 per cent. He said that opposition and treasury benches giving different aspects of the budget, adding that government should prioritize pro-poor economic policies to overcome inflation.

PTI Senator Aon Abbasi Buppi said that opposition was disappointed due to pro-poor budget 2021-22. He said that previous government had left billion of current account deficit which was now surplus. He said that PML- government had signed expensive power sector MOUs and cause billion of losses to the national exchequer.

He said that present government reviewed all the expensive MOUs to save national economy. He said that the government has allocated maximum funds for the vaccines of COVID-19 pandemic.

Aon Abbasi Buppi said that government has issued health card in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, adding that Punjab government also working on health card which will be issued to 120 million in Punjab province. He said that ten mega dams under construction which would bring green revolution and enhance power production. He said that South Punjab had ignored during previous governments, adding that present government was constructing new educational institutions and improving infrastructure in South Punjab.