NA approves Rs50 per litre petroleum levy as house passes Finance Bill 2022-23
Business
The National Assembly also approved amending the Petroleum Products (Petroleum Levy) Ordinance, 1961
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The National Assembly (NA) on Wednesday approved the Rs50 per litre petroleum levy as the house passed the Finance Bill 2022-23.
The bill was passed after Minister of State for Finance Ayesha Ghous moved the house to levy Rs50 per litre on petroleum products during the next fiscal year.
However, Ghous said that the finance bill was not changed at the request of the IMF. “80 per cent of the amendments deal directly with taxes,” she said while adding that the taxes imposed targeted the “rich” to provide “relief to the poor”.
Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Aisha Ghaus Pasha moved the motion for consideration of the Finance Bill, 2022 to give effect to the financial proposals of the federal government for the year beginning on July 1, 2022.
The motion was passed with majority vote which led to the passage of Finance Bill-2022 after clause by clause reading and adopting amendments after due process of voting.
All amendments moved by the Minister of State for Finance and treasury lawmakers were adopted by the House while the amendments of opposition members were rejected by the House after voting.
The National Assembly also approved amending the Petroleum Products (Petroleum Levy) Ordinance, 1961, caving in to the IMF’s demand of imposing a petroleum tax levy of Rs50. However, the finance minister, while speaking on the floor, said that the petroleum levy was at Rs0 currently and reiterated that the government will not impose Rs50 in one go. “The government has got the permission from you (the house) to impose up to Rs50 per litter levy on petroleum products but there is no intention to take the levy up to this figure”, he said.
