ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday announced that the cabinet had given approval to the supplementary finance bill, or the mini-budget, paving way for the bill to be presented in the National Assembly (NA).
“The cabinet has approved the finance bill, which will now be introduced in the National Assembly,” the information minister tweeted.
کابینہ نے فنانس بل کی منظوری دے دی ہے، اب یہ بل قومی اسمبلی کے اجلاس میں پیش کیا جائیگا۔ https://t.co/S5skxZfxQf
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) December 30, 2021
Earlier in the day, the information minister had tweeted that the bill was to be presented before a special committee of the cabinet for approval, following which the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and its allies will hold a parliamentary meeting before the NA session.
The bill was originally scheduled to be presented in parliament on Wednesday but the cabinet had deferred its approval due to desiring a “threadbare discussion” on it.
According to the agenda of the National Assembly for Thursday, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin will introduce the bill in the house to amend certain laws relating to taxes and duties [the Finance Supplementary Bill 2021].
Earlier in the day, a meeting of the parliamentary groups of parties included in the ruling alliance led by the PTI on the issue of the bill’s passage was held.
The opposition has already vowed to block the passage of the bill so fireworks are expected during today’s NA session. The opposition has claimed that the bill will further increase inflation and add to people’s misery.
It is not yet known whether the government would impose a standard GST rate of 17 percent on POL products or not because if the whole GST rate and petroleum levy were jacked up to Rs30 per liter in phases, then the storm of inflationary pressures might touch new heights.
It seems that the government would make last-ditch efforts to protect the POL products from the maximum rate of GST. Currently, the government was charging a minimum amount of GST on POL products.
The bill’s approval is necessary to ensure Pakistan’s sixth review of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility gets cleared by the International Monetary Fund’s executive board on January 12, paving the way for the disbursement of about $1bn tranche.
