Siraj wants budget a package of relief

LAHORE

Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan  Ameer Senator Sirajul Haq has stressed that the last budget of the PML-N government should be a package of relief for the farmers, the youth, workers and the government and semi-government employees, and no new taxes should be levied.  

In a statement here on Wednesday, he said that according to reports, new taxes to the tune of Rs 51 billion were being imposed and the government planned to collect a total of 187 billion additional revenue.  He said that more taxes were being levied on the masses and the imposition of regulatory duty on items of daily use would further raise their prices, making them out of the reach of the common man. 

Sirajul Haq said that the government had not provided any relief to the masses in its budgets for the previous years and the people had been suffering due to price hike and unemployment. As a result, there has been an alarming increase in the incidence of suicides, he added.

At a time when the POL prices in the world market came down, the POL prices in the country were raised, and this automatically led to the rise in the prices of different items. 

The JI chief suggested reasonable cut in the government expenditure and raise in the government and semi government employees equal to the ratio of raise in the prices. The salaries and pensions of lower income groups should be raised at least by 30 percent.  There should be special plans for the youth’s employment, he said. 

He was of the view that the budgets were prepared on the dictation of the IMF and the World Bank, and there were no specific plans for development of any sector of society. He said the result was that around 40 percent people were living below the poverty line. On the other hand, the elite continued to enjoy all the luxuries of life, he added. He said that according to the leading economists, the main reason of price hike and fall in the revenue collection was that the government was putting the entire burden of taxes on the general public and was providing relief only to the elite.  He said the government was claiming great economic  progress but the facts belied the claims.  

The JI chief said the government was facing revenue shortage for a third consecutive year and was seeking heavy loans from abroad. He said the government must cut its expenditure to increase revenue. He said there was no investment in new industries due to unstable rupee.