KARACHI: Pakistan on Friday said it would impose no new taxes in the 2020-21 financial year as it presented a Rs7.14 trillion annual budget with a fiscal deficit estimate of Rs3.43, or seven percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
Pakistan is currently grappling with a fast-growing coronavirus crisis, with a total tally of 125,933 cases and 2,463 fatalities as of Friday evening.
“No new taxes have been proposed in the next budget in order to provide relief to the masses,” Industries Minister Hammad Azhar announced on the floor of the National Assembly as opposition politicians chanted anti-government slogans. “Proposed tax incentives would support economic activities,” he added.
Azhar said the total revenue for the next fiscal year was estimated at Rs6.6 trillion of which the country’s main tax collection body, the Federal Board of Revenue’s share would be Rs4.96 trillion while non-tax revenue would be Rs1.6 trillion.
“Federal expenditure has been estimated at Rs7.137 trillion. The budget deficit would be Rs3.44 trillion, that is 9 percent of GDP, while the primary balance would be 0.5 percent,” Azhar said. “The budget deficit declined from 5 percent to 3.8 percent. The IMF gave us an extended facility of Rs6 billion and remittances increased from 16 to 17 billion rupees,” the minister announced.
He said the government had allocated Rs70 billion to fight the coronavirus while Rs13 billion had been set aside for four federally administered hospitals in Lahore and Karachi.
The size of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for 2020-21 is Rs1.32 trillion. Out of this, Rs 676 billion has been allocated to the provinces while federal PSDP has been estimated at Rs650 billion. The allocation for defence was increased to around Rs1.3 trillion.
The net capital receipts for 2020-21 have been estimated at Rs1.5 trillion against budget estimates of Rs831.7 billion in 2019-20, reflecting an increase of 75.93 percent.
The government has also allocated Rs208 billion for its major poverty alleviation initiative, the Ehsaas Programme. The allocation for higher education is Rs64 billion while Rs180 billion has been allocated for the energy and food sectors.
To facilitate business activity, the government has reduced customs duty on 40 raw materials of various industries while under a tariff rationalization programme, customs duty would be reduced on 90 tariff lines from 11% to 3% and 0%.
Major economic experts described the budget as “unrealistic" and "ambitious."
“Irrational tax target shows no rational thinking,” Dr Ikram ul Haq, a Lahore-based economist and tax expert, told Arab News. “This budget admits that due to the failure of fundamental reforms we suffered before the Covid-19 pandemic and in the post-coronavirus period there is nothing to start public projects to revive the economy and generate employment.”
Experts also noted with concern that no relief was announced for the salaried class.
“They should have slashed sales tax and tax relief for the salaried class and fixed income groups,” Haq said. “Fiscal deficit has widened and debt servicing further swelled. So we have gone from bad to worse.”
“We think that the targets of growth can not be achieved in the current situation because the world is going through economic slowdown and we are also victims,” Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan, the president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in a video message. “The manufacturing sector that provides job opportunities has been ignored in this budget.”
Small businesses affected by lockdown restrictions have also expressed disappointment.
“Small traders and cottage industries have been ignored in the budget,” said Mehmood Hamid, the president of the All-Pakistan Organization of Small Traders and Cottage Industries, said.
Rs7.14 trillion ‘corona budget’ unveiled in Pakistan as infections continue to soar
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Rs7.14 trillion ‘corona budget’ unveiled in Pakistan as infections continue to soar
- No new taxes for 2020-21 financial year, industries minister announces, tax revenue target set at Rs4.9 trillion and defence spending at around Rs1.3 trillion
- GDP growth target set at 2.1 percent and Rs70 billion allocated for coronavirus-related expenditures
Fear, grief grip Pakistan’s Kurram district as 41 killed in sectarian attacks
- Gunmen opened fire on vehicles carrying members of minority Shiite community in KP province on Thursday
- Clashes in July and September killed dozens of people and ended only after a jirga called a ceasefire
PESHAWAR: Fear gripped Pakistan’s northwestern Kurram district on Friday as the death toll from two sectarian attacks rose to 43, with authorities imposing a curfew and suspending mobile phone services in the remote mountainous region.
Gunmen opened fire on vehicles carrying members of the minority Shiite community in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Thursday in one of the region’s deadliest such attacks in recent years. The assault took place in Kurram, a district where sectarian clashes have killed dozens of people in recent months.
“Total 41 people have been killed and 19 others are injured in the attack,” Deputy Commissioner Kurram, Javaid Ullah Mehsud, told Arab News on Friday, saying police were yet to file a police report on the incident.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the latest attack, which came a week after authorities reopened a key highway in the region that had been closed for weeks following deadly clashes.
Mehsud told reporters a local jirga, or tribal council, had been convened to help restore peace and order.
Previous clashes in July and September killed dozens of people and ended only after a jirga called a ceasefire.
A senior administration official told the AFP news agency mobile signals across the district had been shut down, describing the situation as “extremely tense” with locals staging a sit-in in Parachinar, the district’s main town.
“A curfew has been imposed on the main road connecting Upper and Lower Kurram, and the bazaar remains completely closed, with all traffic suspended,“ the official said.
Shop owners in Parachinar had announced a strike on Friday to protest the attack.
Locals described an atmosphere of fear across the district.
“The night was spent in tension,” Irfan ullah Khan, a local youth representative, told Arab News. “People in different villages were guarding their homes … The region is in grief as the situation is tense. Anything can happen.”
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi called the shootings a “terrorist attack.” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attack, and Sharif said those behind the killing of innocent civilians will not go unpunished.
Baqir Haideri, a local Shiite leader, denounced the assault and accused local authorities of not providing adequate security for the convoy of more than 100 vehicles despite fears of possible attacks by militants.
Shiite Muslims make up about 15 percent of the 240 million population of Sunni-majority Pakistan.
With inputs from AFP
Pakistan reports two new polio cases in northwest, raising 2024 tally to 52
- Cases detected in DI Khan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
- Pakistan and Afghanistan are last polio-endemic countries in the world
PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s polio eradication program said on Friday two new cases of the crippling virus had been detected in the country’s northwest, bringing the nationwide tally for 2024 to 52.
Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world. The nation’s polio eradication campaign has hit serious problems with a spike in reported cases this year that have prompted officials to review their approach to stopping the crippling disease.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan, bringing the number of total cases in the country this year to 52,” the National Emergency Operation Center for Polio Eradication said in a statement.
“On Thursday, November 21, the lab confirmed the cases from DI Khan where a boy and girl child are affected. Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway.”
DI Khan, one of the seven polio endemic districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has now reported five polio cases this year.
Of the 52 cases reported in 2024, 24 are from the Balochistan province, 13 from Sindh, 13 from KP and one each from Punjab and Islamabad, the federal capital.
Poliovirus, which can cause crippling paralysis particularly in young children, is incurable and remains a threat to human health as long as it has not been eradicated. Immunization campaigns have succeeded in most countries and have come close in Pakistan, but persistent problems remain.
In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021.
Pakistan’s polio program began in 1994 but efforts to eradicate the virus have since been undermined by vaccine misinformation and opposition from some religious hard-liners, who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies. Militant groups also frequently attack and kill members of polio vaccine teams.
In July 2019, a vaccination drive in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was thwarted after mass panic was created by rumors that children were fainting or vomiting after being immunized.
Public health studies in Pakistan have shown that maternal illiteracy and low parental knowledge about vaccines, together with poverty and rural residency, are also factors that commonly influence whether parents vaccinate their children against polio.
Pakistan’s chief health officer this month said an estimated 500,000 children had missed polio vaccinations during a recent countrywide inoculation drive due to vaccine refusals.
Marathon polo tournament draws huge crowds in Pakistan’s picturesque north
- Ten-day tournament played among 17 teams of Gilgit-Baltistan as part of independence day celebrations
- GB Independence Day celebrated on Nov. 1 every year to mark region’s independence in 1947 from Dogra Raj
KHAPLU, Gilgit-Baltistan: Large crowds have been gathering daily in the northern mountain town of Gilgit for a 10-day polo tournament being held to mark Gilgit-Baltistan’s Independence Day, the military’s media wing and government officials said on Thursday, the last day of the event.
GB is administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory and consists of the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947. The impoverished, remote and rugged mountainous territory borders Afghanistan and China and is the gateway of the $65 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure plan.
The Gilgit-Baltistan Independence Day is celebrated on Nov. 1 every year to mark the region’s independence in 1947 from Dogra Raj, the erstwhile rulers of the now disputed Jammu and Kashmir region.
“The big event of Jashan Azadi Polo Tournament was held at Wahab Shaheed Polo Ground in Gilgit, a remote area of the northern region under the management of Pak Army,” the military’s media wing said in a statement, saying Force Command Northern Areas, Maj. Gen. Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gillani, was the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the event in which 17 teams participated.
“The final match was won by Chilas in civil and NLI teams in departmental categories respectively,” the statement added.
Gilgit-Baltistan is also known for the annual polo festival at Shandur, an area between the northern Pakistani towns of Gilgit and Chitral, and at over 12,000 feet (3,700 meters) the world’s highest polo ground.
Polo in GB is played without rules and at a blistering pace, suggesting more of a clash of cavalry than a sport. Locals believe polo was born in their land and Gilgit is home to the famous polo inscription: “Let other people play at other things, the King of Games is still the Game of Kings.”
Faizullah Faraq, the spokesperson for the G-B government, said thousands had come to watch the matches and celebrate the Gilgit-Baltistan Independence Day.
“Polo is the national game of Gilgit-Baltistan. And thousands of people reached Gilgit’s playground to watch the polo matches daily,” he told Arab News on Thursday.
“Such kinds of activities unite the youth and they play their role to create harmony in the society. The promotion of polo is a need of time to maintain peace in society.”
Afrad Gul, the team captain of the winning Chilas team, appreciated locals who supported the tournament.
“I have been playing polo for the last 15 years, my son was also part of my team,” Gul said in a phone interview. “We have left no stone unturned to keep this regional game alive.”
Pakistan government slams Imran Khan’s wife for using Saudi Arabia for ‘political point scoring’
- Deputy foreign minister urges political forces to desist from compromising Pakistan’s foreign policy for political objectives
- Khan has been in prison since August last year and facing a slew of legal challenges which he says are politically motivated
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government on Friday rejected comments by Bushra Bibi, the wife of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, that Saudi Arabia had been opposed to her husband’s government, calling on political forces to desist from compromising the country’s foreign policy for the sake of “petty” political point scoring.
In a rare public message on Thursday, Bushra assured state institutions Khan had no plans to seek revenge from opponents if he was freed from jail, as she rallied supporters to join a protest planned by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Islamabad on Nov. 24. In the message, she also made remarks that were widely seen as implying that the Saudi government had been opposed to Khan.
“Implicating Saudi Arabia for petty political point scoring is regrettable and indicative of a desperate mindset,” Pakistan’s deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said in a statement after Bushra’s video was released. “We urge all political forces to desist from compromising Pakistan’s foreign policy in pursuance of their political objectives.”
“Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are close friends and brothers. This relationship is based on mutual respect,” Dar added. “We have great admiration for Saudi Arabia’s journey of development and prosperity. The Pakistani nation is proud of its close relationship with Saudi Arabia which has always stood by Pakistan through thick and thin.”
After his ouster from the PM’s office in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in 2022, Khan had also alleged that he was removed by his political rivals and the all-powerful military with the backing of the United States government. All three deny the charge.
Khan has been in prison since August last year and facing a slew of legal challenges. He denies any wrongdoing, and alleges all the cases registered against him are politically motivated to keep him in jail.
Pakistan telecom regulator affirms support for ‘positive use’ as VPN ban deadline looms
- PTA says businesses can use VPNs by registering with government but unregistered VPNs will be blocked after Nov. 30
- Rights activists say government wants to block vital tools that allow users to bypass restrictions amid digital crackdown
ISLAMABAD: The chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Major General (r) Hafeezur Rehman, said this week the body would facilitate the “positive use” of virtual private network (VPN) services even as the government was determined to move ahead with plans to block unregistered VPNs by the end of this month.
The PTA says businesses and freelancers can continue to legally use VPNs by registering with the government, but unregistered VPNs will be blocked in Pakistan after Nov. 30. Authorities say the measures are meant to deter militants and other suspects who use VPNs to conceal their identities and spread “anti-state propaganda” and promote “blasphemous” or other illegal content online.
Digital rights activists say the move is part of government attempts to block vital tools that allow users to bypass restrictions amid a wave of digital crackdowns, particularly since the use of VPNs has sharply risen in Pakistan since February this year when the government banned X.
The federal government is also moving to implement a nationwide firewall to block malicious content, protect government networks from attacks, and allow the government to identify IP addresses associated with what it calls “anti-state propaganda” and terror attacks. Internet speeds have dropped by up to 30-40 percent over the past few months due to the firewall, according to the Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (WISPAP).
“We don’t say to block the VPNs but to regulate the VPNs,” the PTA chairman said on Thursday during an address at Youth Safety Summit Pakistan, jointly organized by TikTok and the PTA.
“If somebody needs VPN for the business purposes, for some positive use, nobody will stop him, let me reassure you, we will facilitate him.”
Rehman said the authority issued its first letter for VPN registration back in December 2010.
“It is now 15 years,” he said. “We have been pushing people to please register with us so that their business is not disturbed.”
The PTA chairman urged TikTok and other social media platforms to use artificial intelligence tools to “block anti-state and blasphemous content.”
“This summit marks a significant step in our mission to secure a safe and inclusive digital environment for Pakistan’s youth,” Rehman said. “PTA remains steadfast in its efforts to implement innovative measures that protect children online and promote a digitally responsible society.”
Emir Gelen, the director of government relations and public policy at TikTok for the Middle East, Turkiye, Africa, Pakistan and South Asia, reaffirmed TikTok’s commitment to online safety at the summit.
“At TikTok, we are committed to ensuring the online safety and well-being of our users, particularly children and youth,” he said.
“We believe that this summit marks an important step toward creating a safer online environment in Pakistan … We’re dedicated to promoting digital literacy and online safety through our initiatives, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with the PTA to achieve this goal.”
In August, the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) warned that frequent Internet disruptions and low speeds caused by poor implementation of the national firewall had led many multinational companies to consider relocating their offices out of Pakistan, with some having “already done so.” The Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), the country’s top representative body for the IT sector, warned this week Internet slowdowns and the restriction of VPN services could lead to financial losses and closures and increase operational costs for the industry by up to $150 million annually.
Pakistan’s IT and ITeS exports have been growing at an average of 30 percent per year, and are on the way to achieve over $15 billion in the next 5 years, according to industry data, provided the government ensures continuity in export, fiscal, financial, SME, infrastructure and IT policies.
“If the VPNs are blocked, most of IT companies, Call Centers, BPO [business process outsourcing] organizations of Pakistan will lose all the major Fortune 500 clients, as well as others – as data protection and cybersecurity are of paramount importance to our clients, and connecting to client systems through VPN is a global norm and standard, and is a basic requirement and expectation of clients around the world,” P@SHA Chairman Sajjad Mustafa Syed said in a statement released on Tuesday.
“Additionally, no international company of any size tolerates any intrusion into their security protocols by any private or public institution.”
