Islamabad, February 15, 2023 (PPI-OT):The Finance (Supplementary) Bill, 2023″ was introduced in the National Assembly today, proposing additional taxes and duties of 170 billion rupees to meet the understanding reached with the International Monetary Fund for the Extended Fund Facility. Sharing main points of the Supplementary Finance Bill in the House, Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar said an effort has been made not to impose additional taxes on daily-used items.
He said it is suggested to increase General Sales Tax from 17 percent to 18 percent. It has been decided to enhance the GST on luxury items from 17 percent to 25 percent. For the air travel, the Minister said those travelling through First and Business Class will have to pay Federal Excise Duty of 20 percent of the airfare or 50,000 rupees or whichever is higher.
He said 10 percent withholding adjustable advance tax will be levied on the bills of wedding halls in order to promote simplicity and austerity. The Finance Minister further said that Federal Excise Duty is being enhanced on Cigarettes and Sugary drinks, while it is proposed to increase Federal Excise Duty on Cement from 1.5 rupees to two rupees per kilogrammes.
The Finance Minister said the government has decided to enhance the monthly cash assistance for Benazir Income Support Programme beneficiaries and for this purpose, the BISP budget is being enhanced from 360 billion rupees to 400 billion rupees. He said the additional revenue measures, announced today, have nothing to do with the fiscal performance of the government.
Referring to the longstanding issue of Circular Debt in the power sector, Ishaq Dar said it was increased from 1,148 billion rupees to 20,467 billion rupees in a span of four years during the PTI government. He said the circular debt was estimated to increase by 855 billion rupees this year, but as a result of incumbent government’s reforms measures, it will be brought down to 336 billion rupees.
Emphasizing the need for energy reforms, he said the country cannot afford 1400 billion rupees losses in the Power Sector per annum. The Finance Minister said the government has also envisaged structural reforms to bring improvement in the economy. He said the economy is expected to grow by four percent next year. The Minister said we are also pursuing a programme to bring down fiscal and current account deficits. He pointed out that the State Bank of Pakistan has issued a priority list for the import of food items, pharmaceuticals and raw material for the export industry.
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