To approve the mini budget, the President called the National Assembly and Senate meetings

Islamabad: After the refusal of the President to sign the ordinance, the government has decided to get the Mini Budget Supplementary Finance Bill approved by the National Assembly and the Senate. For which Dr. Arif Alvi approved to convene a meeting of Senate and National Assembly.

After President Arif Alvi’s refusal to sign the Presidential Ordinance for the Mini Budget, the government has decided not to bring the Mini Budget Ordinance and to call a meeting of the National Assembly and the Senate to present the supplementary finance bill for approval.

In the statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, it has been said that the Federal Cabinet has approved the Finance Bill, after which it will be presented to the Parliament for approval, for which the meeting has been convened on February 15.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s press conference has also been canceled in view of the decision to pass the supplementary finance bill in the assembly. Finance Minister’s press conference was scheduled at 9:25 pm.

Sources say that the finance bill will first be sent to the standing committees of the National Assembly and the Senate. The standing committees of the National Assembly and the Senate will give recommendations on the bill. According to the rules, it is the discretion of the parliament to implement the recommendations of the committees or not.

Sources say that the finance bill is likely to be approved by the committees of both houses by Thursday morning, the finance bill will be approved by the National Assembly and the Senate on Thursday and the bill will be sent to the President for signature on Thursday evening.

Meeting of the National Assembly and the Senate has been called

President of the country Dr. Arif Alvi approved calling the National Assembly meeting at 3.30 pm on February 15th and the Senate meeting at 4.30 pm for approving the mini-budget under Article 54-1 of the Constitution. The Finance Minister will first present the mini-budget in the National Assembly, then present it in the Senate and then immediately send it to the President for approval.

read more: IMF conditions: The federal cabinet has approved the imposition of new taxes worth Rs 170 billion

According to government sources, the reason for quick approval of the finance is to implement IMF conditions. After the passage of the finance bill, the hurdles to an agreement with the IMF will be removed. In the Finance Bill, new taxes of Rs 170 billion will be proposed.

Sources say that the government has also decided to impose additional customs and regulatory duties on the import of luxury goods in place of the Rs 60 billion flood levy, besides increasing the GST rate by one percent to 17-18 percent It has been decided which will get 60 to 65 billion rupees.

In the finance bill, the government has also proposed to increase the withholding tax on banking transactions to Rs 45 billion, increase the Federal Excise Duty (FED) on beverages, as well as FED on locally manufactured and imported vehicles. An increase in FED on cigarettes is proposed.

Sources say that the additional revenue measures taken by the IMF should be long-term and sustainable rather than ad-hoc and temporary and should not be limited to the remaining four months of the current financial year 2022-23. Should be maintained during the next financial year as well.

Also read: President’s refusal to immediately approve the monetary ordinance issued on IMF terms

Finance Ministry sources say that this is the reason why it has been decided to impose additional customs duty and regulatory duty instead of flood levy, because if flood levy was imposed, it would be for one time. Sources say that along with cigarettes, taxes on juices and cold and energy drinks are also likely to increase, while a 0.6 percent withholding tax is likely to be imposed on bank transactions of non-filers.