Federal Minister of Industries and Production Hammad Azhar presents the budget for the fiscal year of 2020-21, here on Friday.
The federal minister of Industries said in his budget speech that the government had been performing successfully during the past nine months — before COVID-19 proved to be a setback for the country’s economy.
He also said that the COVID – 19 results in reducing the trade deficit from $21bn to $15bn and the budget deficit was brought down to 3.8% by the incumbent government’s policies.
The government’s top two priorities have been battling corruption and ensuring accountability. He said that during the past five years, there had been no growth in exports.
Economic Survey 2019-2020: GDP to contract 0.38% in FY 2020
“The reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan declined from $18bn to $10bn due to the failed policies of the past,” he said, adding that Pakistan had been placed on the FATF grey list due to the absence of concrete policies to keep terror financing and money laundering in check.
However, during the budget speech, the members of the opposition started waving protest banners in the parliament and shouted slogans against the government.
Tax and Revenue Collection
The net revenue receipts for 2020-21 have been estimated at Rs 3,699.5 billion indicating an increase of 6.7% over the budget estimates of 2019-20.
The provincial share in federal taxes is estimated at Rs 2,873.7 billion during 2020-21, which is 11.7% lower than the budget estimates for 2019-20.
The net capital receipts for 2020-21 have been estimated at Rs 1,463.2 billion against the budget estimates of Rs 831.7 billion in 2019-20 reflecting an increase of 75.93%.
The external receipts in 2020-21 are estimated at Rs 2,222.9 billion. This
shows a decrease of 26.7% over the budget estimates for 2019-20.
The overall expenditure during 2020-21 has been estimated at Rs 7,294.9
billion, out of which the current expenditure is Rs 6,345 billion.
SALIENT FEATURES
The budget 2020-21 has the following salient features:
The total outlay of budget 2020-21 is Rs 7,294.9 billion. This size is 11% lower than the size of budget estimates 2019-20.
The resource availability during 2020-21 has been estimated at Rs 6,314.9 billion against Rs 4,917.2 billion in the budget estimates of 2019-20.
The development expenditure outside PSDP has been estimated at Rs 70.0 billion in the budget 2020-21.
The size of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for 2020-21 is Rs 1,324 billion. Out of this, Rs 676 billion has been allocated to provinces.
Federal PSDP has been estimated at Rs 650 billion, out of which Rs 418.7 billion for Federal Ministries/Divisions, Rs 100.4 billion for Corporations, Rs 3 billion for Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA), and 7 B for COVID responsive and Other Natural Calamities Program.
BUDGET 2020 – 21
Rs 70 billion are allocated for the COVID – 19 and other disasters
Rs1,289 billion will be allocated for the defence to ensure the security of the nation
Rs80 billion for special economic zones
Relief Package announced during the coronavirus pandemic. Rs100 billion were allocated for electricity and gas bills.
Rs50 billion was allocated to provide relief to the farmers.
The government has allocated Rs208 billion for the Ehsaas Programme for the alleviation of poverty and helping the poor.
Pakistan has allocated Rs70bn for water projects
Rs 1324 billion are allocated for infrastructure and development
Rs 24 billion are allocated for the ML – one of Pakistan Railway
Balochistan to get Rs10 billion special grant
Rs 1 billion allocated for the artist welfare fund
Inflation to be brought down to 6.5 percent
Rs 40 billion allocated for Pakistan Railways
Rs 10 billion for the agricultural sector
Rs 6 billion allocated to deal with challenges posed by climate change
Rs 20 billion allocated for science and technology
Rs48billion for KP’s tribal areas
Exemption from taxes and duties on medical and testing equipment extended to three more months
Traders can do transactions up to Rs100, 000 without showing NIC
Rs12billion allocated for food security
Rs 6 billion will be spent on combating climate change impact in the country
Budget allocations for provinces
The federal government allocates 2,874 billion rupees for Provinces;
Rs 742 billion are allocated for Sindh
Rs 1,439 billion are allocated for Punjab
Rs 265 billion are allocated for Balochistan
Rs 472 billion are allocated for KhyberPakhtoonkhwa
Rs 72 billion are allocated for Azad Jammu Kashmir
Rs 32 billion are allocated for Gilgit Baltistan
