Budget worth Rs 4778 billion for FY 2017-18 presented in NA
Dunya News has obtained copies of the budget that is to be presented
(Web Desk) -- Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has on Friday presented the federal budget worth Rs 4778 billion for the fiscal year 2017-18 in the National Assembly (NA).
Major announcements made in the budget
18:50 - Medina s state was based on transparency. If we follow that example, we ll be able to attain the Pakistan of Quaid-e-Azam s dreams.
18:49 - Finance Minister appeals to the House to unite in the attainment of the targets set for the coming fiscal year in the budget 2017-18.
18:49 - Water House Cooper s has predicted that Pakistan will be a part of G20 in 2030 but we must all strive to reach this position before 2030.
18:48 - Minimum wages set at Rs 15,000, increased by Rs 1000.
18:48 - Pakistan is much prosperous today compared to what it was four years ago.
18:47 - Per capita income has improved by 22% during the last five years and it must keep improving.
18:47 - Improvement of the least developed areas in the country must be focused. Access to schools and child mortality rate must be improved.
18:46 - CPEC projects must be completed as soon as possible.
18:46 - Competitiveness of the exports must be improved in the coming five years.
18:45 - Public sector enterprises must be improved with the help of corporatisation in the next five years.
18:45 - Water reservoirs must be improved in the coming five years.
18:44 - 10% increase in the salaries and pensions of the government employees proposed.
18:44 - Elimination of poverty must be our focus of attention.
18:43 - Remittances and tax reforms must be improved.
18:43 - whoever forms government in the coming election must focus up to 7% GDP growth rate in the next year s budget.
18:36 - All sales tax refunds to be cleared by August 14.
18:35 - PML-N government had introduced loans for widowed women in 1999. The scheme is now being reintroduced after 18 years. The mark-up on these loans will be paid by the government.
18:34 - Taxes on dividends to be increased from 12.5% to 15 percent.
18:33 - Bait ul-Maal budget increased from Rs 4 billion to Rs 6 billion.
18:31 - Custom duty on import of wood sheets reduced from 16% to 11%.
18:29 - 10% rise on the duty on cigarette.
18:29 - Government to obtain loans worth Rs 390 billion from banks.
18:28 - Defence budget increased to Rs 920 billion.
18:28 - 10% special allowance to be provided in the salaries for the Pakistan army soldiers.
18:27 - Custom duty exemption to be provided for encouraging poultry farming.
18:26 - Rs 49 billion being allocated for health sector.
18:25 - Poultry farm industry to get relief as 11% duty on hatching eggs to be reduced to 3% in the coming fiscal year.
18:23 - Federal Excise Duty on cigarette to be increased.
18:22 - Rs 30 billion allocated for PM Youth program.
18:21 - Seven different machines in poultry field are sales taxed 17% currently. It will be reduced to 7%.
18:19 - 2% tax on lubricating oil removed.
18:19 - Witholding tax on non-filers to rise.
18:18 - Tax imposed on the builders withdrawn.
18:17 - Super tax for the rehabilitation of the temporarily displaced persons to continue next year as well.
18:16 - Withholding tax on electronic goods dealers to be increased from 0.5% to 1%.
18:15 - Minimum turnover tax to be increased from 1 percent to 1.15 percent.
18:10 - Non-filers to get no relief in tax and duty exemptions.
18:09 - Withholding tax to be reduced on the purchase of daily use items.
18:08 - Raw material import exemption is 110% currently. It will be improved to 125%.
18:07 - Car registration dues on 850 CC cars to be brought down from Rs 10,000 to Rs 7500, for 1000 CC cars dues to be reduced to Rs 15,000.
18:06 - Tax for corporate sector brought down to 30%.
18:05 - Government s ultimate target for tax-GDP ration is 15%.
17:58 - Rs 43.64 billion to be allocated for Gilgit-Baltistan and Jammu & Kashmir, raised by 69%. Rs 29 billion to be allocated for the development of FATA.
17:58 - Rs 180 billion allocated for projects in CPEC and the projects related to it.
17:57 - Rs 35.7 billion allocated for Higher Education Commission.
17:57 - Two-thirds of the diseases caused by unhealthy water. Clean drinking water projects to be given massive funds for the coming year.
17:56 - Rs 10 billion allocated for the second phase of PM Health Program.
17:55 - Investment budget has been doubled this year.
17:54 - Improvement in Railways top priority for the government. Govt will provide Rs 42.9 billion to Railways during the next fiscal year.
17:53 - 38 billion rupees to be allocated for improving water reservoirs.
17:49 - Pakistan had 1200 megat watts surplus in 1999 and it went several thousand mega watts in deficit. But next year, this load shedding will have become history.
17:48 - Most of the population expected to remain below 20 years of age in the ongoing census.
17:48 - Rs 411 billion allocated for transport sector, including highways, railways and aviation.
Special facilities announced for IT sector in Federal Budget 2017-18
National Assembly budget session 2017-2018,#Budget2017 #BudgetOnDunya pic.twitter.com/JJ2rJIKcZt
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17:46 - Mobile telephone accessories import duties to be reduced.
17:46 - Withholding tax and excise duties on mobile calls to be reduced to 12.5%.
17:45 - First year to be exempted from tax for IT companies setting up in Pakistan.
17:44 - IT Software Park being made in Islamabad with the help of South Korea.
17:43 - Innovation Challenges Fund to be formed.
17:42 - Disaster Risk Management Fund has been formed with Rs 525.1 million for covering the risk of small businesses.
17:41 - Government to form e-banking department in State Bank for encouraging mobile banking. The project will cost Rs 2 billion.
17:41 - Subsidy on urea, fertiliser to continue.
17:40 - Pakistan Infrastructure Bank to be formed for project financing. Pakistan to own 20% of shares, World Bank to hold 20% shares and the rest to be owned by private organisations and financial institutions.
17:40 - Pakistan currently has a deficit of 1 million houses.
17:39 - Banks don t provide long-term loans for housing. Government to provide 40% credit guarantee to the banks and financial institutions for housing loans up to Rs 1 million.
17:38 - Custom duty on raw hides to be removed, overseas warehousing of rice to be permitted.
17:37 - Pakistan s exports dropped due to the drop in prices of agricultural products in the global market.
17:37 - Government to start brand development fund for textile industry.
17:36 - Textile import duty waiver to continue this year as well.
17:36 - Ad-hoc reliefs added in 2009-10 to be incorporated into the salaries.
17:34 - Government will encourage import of agriculture machinery by removing the custom and import duties on the import of combined harvester used for less than 5 years.
17:33 - Government will keep providing the electricity to agricultural tubewells at Rs 5.35 per unit during off-peak hours.
17:32 - State Bank working on linking banking system with land record management system.
17:32 - Sales tax on FDP to be reduced from Rs 400 per bag to Rs 100 per bag.
17:31 - Loans worth Rs 1001 billion to be provided for agriculture sector.
17:30 - Rs 50,000 loans for agriculture to be provided to farmers owning land less than 12.5 acres. Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan will be leading the initiative while State Bank of Pakistan to suprevise.
17:28 - 118 billion rupees allocated for subsidy on electricity.
17:28 - Balochistan to especially benefit from the solar power projects during the next year.
17:27 - Subsidy to the households using less than 300 units will continue.
17:26 - The proverty survey of 2002 said the population living below poverty line was over 64% while it has dropped to less than 30% now.
17:26 - GDP growth rate target to be set at 6% for the next year.
17:25 - Agricultural tubewell electricity subsidy to continue.
17:25 - 5.5 million families to now receive funds from Benazir Income Support Program.
17:24 - Around 10,000 mega watts of electricity will be added to the national grid in the coming year, eliminating load shedding from Pakistan completely.
17:23 - Tax facilities will be provided to agriculture and IT sectors.
17:23 - We will raise the development budget by 40% i.e. 1001 billion rupees.
17:22 - Our budget deficit will be kept at 4.1% during the next financial year.
17:21 - We have to improve and consolidate the achievements of the current year in the FY 2017-18.
17:20 - Pakistan signed OECD convention as a part of reforms to attain tax transparency.
17:19 - Bills pertaining to income tax reforms were signed by this House during 2015-16 and it d help Pakistan to attain the improved levels of transparency globally.
17:18 - Government signed the OGP document recently after Pakistan was invited to the agreement as it completed all the requirements.
17:15 - Azan break
17:15 - Remittances woth 15.60 billion dollars were sent to Pakistan during current fiscal year during the first 10 months.
17:14 - Companies listed with the government will have to include women in the boards of directors.
17:12 - Pakistan s stock market was compared with the best stock markets of Asia.
17:11 - Pakistan s rating to improve from frontier market status to emerging market status on June 1 according to Standard & Poor s.
17:10 - Remittances are expected to rise during the last couple of months of the current financial year due to Ramazan and Eid festivals in May and June.
17:10 - FBR will be able to collect 3521 billion rupees during the current financial year.
17:09 - Services sector s GDP growth remained 5.98% during the current financial year.
17:09 - Agricultural GDP growth rate remained 3.46%.
17:08 - Per capital income rose by 22%.
17:07 - State Bank s interest rate brought down to the least in Pakistan s history.
17:06 - Budget deficit in 2012-13 of 8.2% has been reduced to 4.2% of the GDP this year.
17:05 - Opposition walks out of the House.
17:05 - Global ratings agencies improved Pakistan s ratings during the last four years.
17:05 - For the first time in Pakistan s history, the country s economic volume has risen to 300 billion dollars.
17:04 - Pakistan s financial performance remained better than most of the countries across the globe.
17:03 - Opposition chants slogans against the government as Finance Minister Ishaq Dar shares the financial performance during the previous year.
17:02 - Pakistan will be added to the G20 by 2030
17:01 - The GDP growth rate remained 5.3% during the current financial year.
16:57 - Ishaq Dar begins his budget speech.
16:51 - Leader of the Opposition, Khurshid Shah granted permission to take the mic before Ishaq Dar proceeds
16:45 - Speaker of the NA, Ayaz Sadiq presides over a session
