First time in history: FBR collects less taxes than previous year, says Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, has said that for the first time in history Federal Board of Revenue has done less tax collection in the country than the previous financial year as the incompetence of the present federal government is responsible for this situation.

Addressing the post-budget press conference here at Sindh Assembly building auditorium on Thursday, the Sindh CM said that federal government had find a pretext in the form of coronavirus emergency to cover up its own incompetence.

The CM was accompanied on the occasion by Sindh Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and his Advisor on Law Barrister Murtaza Wahab. The CM said that no one knew with certainty as for how long the coronavirus emergency would last in the country.

He said that Sindh had been getting less fiscal resources in the federal budget than its estimated share in the federal resources. He said that his government in the previous year had prepared a balanced budget but this year the situation had changed due to thecoronavirus emergency. He said that the federal government was not in the mood to accept its incompetence in doing the tax collection. “It is wrong to blame the coronavirus for your failure,” he said.

He said that his government had been forced to curtail its development budget owing to the federal government. The CM said that he didn’t agree to the concept of imposing any “Smart” lockdown in the country against the spread of the coronavirus as either there is lockdown or there is no lockdown in the country as there is no such thing as smart or dumb lockdown.

Responding to a question, the CM said that there was no defect in the National Finance Commission Award as the only defect was less tax collection by the federal government. “The tax pilferage not being plugged is the real defect”.

“We have demanded that tax collection powers should be devolved to us as we will show how collections are made,” he said. He said that efforts were made to usurp the rights of the provinces. Sindh CM said that last year he had presented a balanced budget as this year he was not satisfied much with the new provincial budget.

He said that Sindh in the outgoing fiscal year had received Rs 553 billion out of the promised Rs 606 billion as its share under the federal divisible pool. He said that it was being informed that the province would get Rs 760 billion in the next fiscal year.

He alleged that the federal government had a committed a robbery of Rs 229 billion as Sindh would get Rs 229 billion less from the federation in the current year. “What else should I say other than terming it a robbery”.

He said that annual development budget of Sindh government for upcoming fiscal year was Rs 233 billion. He said that apart from the provincial Health Department, no new scheme had been planned by his government for any other sector.

He said that new provincial budget contained the funding for establishing a hospital for treating infectious diseases in every divisional headquarter.

He said that funding had been provided in the new provincial budget to complete 700 ongoing development schemes in the province. He said that they had raised the salaries of the government employees in the new budget while sending out the message that the government staffers would not be left alone during the present difficult times.

He said that his government had reserved Rs 23 billion for providing cash relief assistance to the coronavirus patients in the province. He said that Rs 05 billion had been reserved for extending loans to small businesses and industries in the province affected due to the coronavirus situation.

He said that his government had reserved a sum of Rs 05 billion for provision of the health risk allowance for the medical professionals. “It is has been said about me that Murad Ali Shah agreed to several proposals in the meetings (with the federal government) but later on he (the CM) backtracks,” he said.

The CM showed to media the copies of record he brought with him to make his point that he honoured the commitments he had made in his meetings with the federal authorities.

Murad Ali Shah said that he used to agree to the proposals of the federal government but at the same time he also presented his own viewpoint. The CM said that he attended the meetings of NCC and NCoC but also presented his viewpoint.

He said that in the first such meeting he had proposed shutting down airports and imposing lockdown in the country but instead of accepting his proposal he was given the example of the United Kingdom as at that time its prime minister was not diagnosed suffering from coronavirus.

He said that a baseless allegation had been levelled against him that his government had imposed lockdown in the province without consulting the federal government. “One has to answer as who ordered closure of international flights and sealing of borders. Was it the case that any of the chief ministers was chairing the session of the National Coordination Committee?”

He said that they fully abided by and honoured the decisions taken by Imran Khan as being the PM. “It has been stated that Murad Ali Shah took lead in imposing the lockdown as rest of the provinces ordered the lockdown while following him then who is the PM who took such decisions on April 01,” he said.

He said that it seems from the conversations of the PM that his memory had become weak. He appealed to the PM to take full-fledged steps to protect the lives of people as such decisions should be in line with the recommendations of the medical experts.

He said it was falsely claimed that the rest of the world had been following the model of Imran Khan as it was not the case. He said that Department of Plant Protection was responsible for tackling the problem of locusts but now his government had been held responsible to tackle the problem. “The 18th Amendment has no role in this issue but even then we are paying (to tackle the crisis). This issue is also being handled by Army as it seems that they (the federal government) are too much overburdened,” said the CM.

He said that his government had asked the federal government on March 06 to provide six airplanes to deal with the issue as the locust swarms were expected from Iran and Africa. Instead only one plane was given as it is now parked in Sukkur. “The plane and its pilot belong to you then how come we can operate it,” said the CM.

He said that they sought assistance from outside the country to get the planes. “We will spend the money for the sake of our people,” he said.

“This turns out to be the first federal government whose funding is being done by the provinces,” said the CM. To a question, he said that it was wrong to set on fire the effigy of the PM in Larkana but at the same time his own effigy was also torched.

To another question, he said that the federal government had adopted a wrong and unlawful course of action to assume the control of three major public sector hospitals in Karachi as a letter written to the hospitals for the purpose was not the correct method to adopt for the purpose. The CM said that he believed the federal government lacked the ability to run the three major public sector hospitals in the city.