Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail on Friday introduced the Finance Bill, 2022 in the National Assembly aimed at giving effect to the financial proposals of the Federal Government for the year commencing from the first day of July, 2022.
He also laid before the National Assembly the Supplementary Demands for Grants and Appropriations for the financial year 2021-22.
Earlier, he presented the Federal Budget for the year, 2022-23 during his an hour and nine minutes speech in an orderly environment as members of the Opposition including the opposition leader Raja Riaz Ahmad listened his complete budget speech.
During the session which began at 4:41 pm, the Minister for Finance provided an insight into the government’s estimated expenditures, revenues, and how it aims to allocate funds for vital sectors of the economy.
The minister continued his speech uninterruptedly and said that the volume of the federal budget has been set at Rs 9.5 trillion.
He said that Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif did not shy away from taking difficult decisions for the sake of the country and assumed the office when the country had been facing severe economic issues and challenges on multiple fronts.
He said when the PML-N came into power, the economy was almost bankrupt.
“Everyone knows we were under the burden of so many loans,” he said, adding that the current account deficit was at a historic high.
Criticizing the previous governments, the minister said that the PML-N led government had to inherit a huge circular debt amount after coming into power, adding that the debt was accumulated due to botched policies.
He said there were lot of difficulties but the government would lay the ground for the economy to revive and to move towards development and prosperity.
The minister said Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif does not hesitate from taking difficult decisions. He said the incumbent government had, through its sound economic policies, would ensure development in the country.
The Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif also attended the sitting and remained present during the entire speech of the Finance Minister.
Other Ministers including Ashan Iqbal, Khurram Dastgir, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Asad Mehmood, Syed Faisal Ali Subzwari, Shah Zain Bugti and senior leaders of PML-N and PPPP attended the sitting.
The entire sitting was chaired by the Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf who adjourned the House to meet again on June 13, 2022 (Monday) at 4 pm.
The House would formally convene the debate on the budget in the next sitting and Leader of the Opposition Raja Riaz likely to open debate on it as per parliamentary tradition.
