NA body urges government to present budget for only four months

The government''s problems for seeking approval of the budget for the entire fiscal year deepened on Monday after some members of the ruling party joined opposition members in their move to prevent the outgoing government from presenting full fiscal year budget.
All this happened during the meeting of National Assembly Standing Committee of Finance when the chairman of the committee and another member of the ruling party supported a resolution moved by the opposition members that recommended the government to present budget for only four months. Later this resolution was accepted with a majority vote.
Soon after a briefing to the committee meeting, presided over by Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, was started by Special Secretary Finance Noor Ahmed on broad parameters of the budget for the next fiscal year, committee members Asad Umar from PTI, Rashid Godil from MQM-P, and Dr Nafisa Shah and Syed Mustafa Mehmud from PPP questioned how the government whose tenure is going to be completed only in a few weeks can present budget for the entire fiscal year.
They added that it is the right of the next government to present the budge for 2018-19 because the onus of implement the the economic policies will rest with it.
Subsequently, a resolution moved by them was approved with the support of ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N) members including Isphanyar M Bhandara and Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh.
Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh stated that the next government has the right to implement its policies through the budget and added hurriedly that there may be different financial managers of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) too even if it is voted to power again after the general election 2018.
Minister for State for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal argued that the next government can make changes in the budget according to its desires.
As most of the members of the ruling party were missing from the committee, the members of opposition parties also turned down Finance Ministry''s move to incorporate recently announced tax amnesty scheme in the relevant sections of existing laws with majority vote against amendments in ''The Voluntary Declaration of Domestic Assets Bill 2018'' and ''The Foreign Assets (declaration and Repatriation) Bill 2018.''