Sunday, 06 June 2010
ZAHEER ABBASI
The government on Saturday announced a consolidated budget outlay of Rs 3.259 trillion for next fiscal year, with 4 percent budget deficit, and what the Federal Finance Minister was careful to refer to as deferring the reforms of GST, understood by the galleries as reluctant to use the three-letter word ''VAT'', till October 1, 2010 instead of July 1, 2010, but increased the GST from existing 16 to 17 percent.