Govt to Introduce Another Mini-Budget to Deal with Economic Challenges

As the government has yet to overcome the economic challenges the country is faced with, another mini-budget is on the anvil to address some of the crippling issues that Pakistan is enduring. Finance Minister Asad Umar, on Wednesday, suggested that the government might introduce another ‘mini-budget’ in January 2018 to address the economic challenges facing the country. Briefing the Senate’s Standing Committee, the minister said that although another mini-budget is on the cards, the government has not yet taken a final decision in its favor. ALSO READ Govt Has the Data of 700,000 People Who Don’t Pay Taxes: Finance Minister An increase in taxes had been proposed earlier, but the government could consider decreasing the taxes in order to boost the economy. In order to facilitate the export-oriented sector and enable exporters to compete with their competitors, the government has decided to supply gas to exporters at $6.5 per MMBTU and electricity at 7.5 cents per unit. A notification will be issued soon in this regard, he added. “The government has also decided to issue bonds for tax refunds,” said Asad Umar. ALSO READ This is How the Mini-Budget Will Impact Phone and Auto Prices If a supplementary budget is announced next month, it would be the second such budget introduced by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government since it was voted into power in general elections held on July 28th. The finance minister had presented a Finance Supplementary (Amendment) Bill 2018 in the National Assembly in September, saying that “difficult times called for difficult measures”. The ‘mini-budget’, as it was called, cut planned development spending and increased taxes for higher earners.