ISLAMABAD:Azam Nazeer Tarar, the minister of law and justice, stated to the Senate on Friday that Pakistan is a responsible state and that no one should dare to look negatively upon the nation’s atomic and other assets.
The minister claimed that none of the federal cabinet members received salaries and only the barest of perks when he responded to senator Mushtaq Ahmed’s concerns in the Senate. They were only given 1800 CC cars and gasoline priced on par with federal secretaries. Senator Mushtaq Ahmed said the International Monterey Fund (IMF) wanted to default Pakistan and put obstacles in the way of the distribution of the $ 1 billion tranche when the budget debate first resumed.
Such tactics were being adopted to snatch atomic bomb facility of Pakistan, he added.
He suggested that elimination of elite and protocol culture besides curbing various ‘mafias’ were mandatory to address the key challenges to the national economy.
He criticized the government for not giving any concrete plan for debt retiring, controlling inflation, civil and police reforms.
He said that the national debt has surged to record Rs 60,000 billion and the budget lacked any concrete plan to address this grave issue. He demanded that a commission should be formed to investigate who had borrowed these hefty loans and where it had been spent.
He said inflation has also touched to 38 per cent which was even more than Sri Lanka. There was no programme to overpower circular debt which was a result of mismanagement and poor governance, he added.
He claimed that there was also dire need of reforms in FBR as there was leakage of Rs 1000 billion in it.
He said that in new merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, no development was carried out and no facility was extended to these areas. Tax exemption should be given to Malakand and erstwhile FATA for next 10 years instead of one year, he said.
Rana Maqbool of PML-N said the government has given a balanced budget despite many challenges. He said many incentives were given to the agriculture and IT sectors besides for youth.
He said significant increase in pension and salary of the employees has been announced in the budget which would provide prompt relief to the people.
He said amendment should also be brought in the House so its recommendation could be binding to incorporate in the money bill.
