Government sets minimum wage at Rs20,000
Govt unveils people-friendly budget as no new tax imposed on salaried class, economic growth target set at 4.8%
Our Correspondent
June 11, 2021
Unveiling the federal budget for FY22, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin kicked off the national assembly session by recalling the state of the economy that the
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had received when it came into power.
He said that the current account deficit was at a historic high of $20 billion but the government through its prudent policies managed to drag the economy out of trouble.
He said that the budget deficit was at a high of 6.6% and the foreign exchange reserves were at a critical level of $10 billion at the end of PML-N’s tenure. However, the situation has now improved.
He said that the responsibility to fix the economy fell to the PTI government as the previous government had hampered the economy by taking loans and artificially was fixing the dollar at Rs104 for five years.
Moving on, he said the biggest challenge to the government was to avoid a financial default.
Highlighting the success of the PTI government, the minister said they had managed to bring the current account from deficit to a surplus of $800 million. He said that the economy was on the road to stabilisation and growth.
Talking about the Covid-19 outbreak, he said that the government had managed the situation well and saved the economy from crisis.
From March-May we faced the third crisis but through timely action, we managed to come out of this situation.
Talking about agriculture, the minister said that the agriculture sector witnessed historic growth.
Tarin claimed that Pakistan has now entered the growth club. “Economy is on the way of growth.”
Pakistan faced two faceted problems, however, the country managed to remain protected from default.
During the outgoing fiscal year, the country witnessed historic growth in the agriculture sector. Meanwhile, the large-scale manufacturing sector recorded growth after many years and posted 9% growth during FY21, he added.
All crops showed growth, he added.
And services sector including transport, banking, insurance recorded significant growth compared to previous years.
Tarin highlighted that poverty reduced and jobs were created.
“We succeeded in fighting grave consequences of Covid-19, despite the severe third wave which created more havoc compared to the first two waves,” he added.
“During these tough times, we enhanced hospital resources,” the finance minister said.
The low-income segment was benefited through the Ehsaas program which provided relief to 12 million households – covering 40% of the total population.
In the next fiscal year, the government expects $29 billion in remittances, he said.
With a record-high production in agriculture, the sector contributes Rs3.1 trillion to the national exchequer.
Growth in the large-scale manufacturing sector helped create jobs accommodating people who were laid off during the pandemic.
Sharing more details, the finance minister said that the e-commerce and fintech industry is expected to steer the online job ecosystem.
During the fiscal year 2020-21, tax revenue increased and showed 18% growth as tax receipts crossed Rs4 trillion.
Exports increased by a significant 14% as a rebate, duty drawback helped the sector flourish, he added.
Earlier in 2018 when the PTI government came into power, the current account deficit was a huge challenge, but now this is also under control.
Tarin mentioned that remittances rose 25% to $29 billion during FY21.