Finance Ministry undermined the proceedings of the post budget press conference on Saturday by barring economic reporters from asking questions to the Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh. High ups of the Finance Ministry avoided reply to a question that if the federal government could negotiate with the provinces on RGST on services why it could not do so for imposition and collection of agriculture tax.
The federal government has been saying that according to Constitution taxing agriculture sector and its income is a provincial subject and federal government could not overstep their jurisdiction. Similarly, they did not respond to a question that as to what federal government would do if income of majority of 0.7 million people identified by National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) is from agriculture sector.
There was no reply also to a question whether the government has taken any measures in the budget for taking action against those understating their assets and income. So many other question were also asked by the journalists for clarification about the measures taken in the budget including whether 15 percent increase in salary would be applicable on running or basic pay, but they did not receive any response.
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