Prof Sajid Mir while taking part in the debate said that superfluous recruitment policy had ruined the national airliner and Pakistan Steel Mills, and now the same were reportedly being privatized.
He suggested that agreements with the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) should be renegotiated to curb the circular debt issue, besides reducing people’s miseries.
He also called for promotion of the tax culture to strengthen the national economy.
Shahadat Awan of the Pakistan Peoples Party said that salaries and pension of the employees should be increased as per the existing inflation.
He said more funds should be allocated for K-IV scheme project for smooth supply of water to Karachi.
Taxes had been imposed on medicines and books which would cause further inflation, he said, and urged the government to revise the budget and only passed interim budget for two months.
Zeeshan Khanzada of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf called for steps to ensure political stability as it was imperative for economic stability
.
He said the private sector could boost the national economy but it had been completely ignored in the budget. He claimed that Rs 350 billion subsidy was provided to K-Electric during the current fiscal year while NTDC received Rs 600 billion under head of subsidy. He suggested that taxes should be abolished on real-state business as it created employment opportunities.
Dr Afnan Ullah Khan of the PML-N said that inflation was directly linked with the budget deficit. He sad it was appreciable that Rs 563 billion had been allocated for the BISP in the budget to help the deserving families while hefty amount of Rs 1,400 billion was specified for various development projects under the annual Public Sector Development Programme.
He further said that major investment was being carried out to promote the IT sector.
He enumerated that Rs 40 billion had been allocated for Diamer Basha Dam, Rs 12 billion for laptop scheme and Rs 12 billion for Jamshoro Thar Coal Power Plant, while the Dasu Dam was also being compl
eted to generate cheap hydel electricity.
Afnan Ullah said that Pakistan recently sent satellite in the space and huge allocation was made for SUPARCO for sending another satellite to meet the country’s defence requirement.
He said the trade deficit stood at $50 billion in 2022 during the PTI government. He said the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway section would be completed during the year. The ML-1 project would also be started soon, he added.
He said the government had successfully brought down inflation from 38 per cent to 11 per cent.
Later, the House was adjourned to meet again on Monday at 5: 00 p.m.