The Senate has forwarded to the National Assembly around 100 recommendations on the budget for fiscal year beginning from July 1. A Senate Standing Committee on Finance finalised these proposals in seven sittings of more than 40 hours. As many as 90 out of 97 total recommendations are unanimous. Seven are from the opposition alone.
The standing committee that started deliberations on the budget 2007-08 from the day it was presented has sought input from various concerned quarters like the Finance Ministry and the tax collection authorities. The government has over the weekend presented to the National Assembly a Rs 1.87 trillion budget.
Under the Pakistan constitution, the National Assembly is allowed to approve the budget. Senators can only forward their recommendations and the government can reject them. Chairman Committee Senator Ahmed Ali told the house that more than 300 recommendations were received from the members individually.