National Assembly passes Finance Bill 2020-21

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Monday passed the Finance Bill 2020-21, giving the go-ahead to the budgetary proposals for the upcoming financial year, ARY News reported.

The bill was moved by Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar.

Speaking in the National Assembly, Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar said the government presented a tax-free budget and it envisages relief measures not only for the construction sector but also for the promotion of mobile phone manufacturing and electric vehicles.

He said it is the first time that the annual development plan carries the biggest allocations for Balochistan and Sindh.

The Minister clarified that the government has not increased the sales tax or petroleum development levy on petroleum products. He said fuel prices have been increased keeping in view the upward trend in the international oil market.

“Mafias in oil, sugar and flour will be brought to justice,” he added.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the people of Pakistan have given mandate to Prime Minister Imran Khan and he will not resign. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan enjoys the confidence of the house.

Taking the floor, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will not make any compromise on its ideology.  He said the PTI and its allies stand by the ideology of Imran Khan.

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Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, speaking during the ongoing budget session in the National Assembly, blasted Prime Minister Imran Khan over the government’s Covid-19 response.

He said the premier now has only two options: either ask the public and the assembly for forgiveness for what he claimed destroying the national economy and endangering public lives or step down and let someone qualified take charge.

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Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari lamented that the government dropped a petrol bomb on public even before the passage of the fiscal budget for the next year. He asked how can a minister issue a notification that the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) is supposed to put out.

He said when the premier took notice of the wheat, flour, sugar, and masks issues, their prices went up. He taunted the prime minister, asking him to not take more notices of anything and instead put himself in self-quarantine.