The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has presented its second federal budget in the National Assembly.
According to Industries Minister Hammad Azhar, who delivered the budget speech on the floor of the house, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) revenue target for next year has been kept at Rs4.95 trillion, while defence allocations amount to around Rs1.3 trillion.
The federal development programme has been budgeted at Rs650 billion to support growth prospects.
The budget for fiscal year (FY) 2020-21 comes at a time when the country is battling the COVID-19 pandemic that has served a severe blow to the economy. According to reports, it has been formulated considering the impact of the virus and to give relief to the citizens, as part of which no new taxes have been imposed.
As consumers across the country face difficulties due to petrol shortage, the government is currently contemplating completely deregulating pricing and marketing of petrol.
According to a report published in Dawn, the government is considering doing away with uniform pricing of petrol and deregulating it in line with other petroleum products like hi-octane blending component (HOBC) which are already deregulated.
Recently oil marketing companies (OMCs) have come under severe criticism for their alleged collusive behavior that has seen the price of HOBC, to increase to Rs148-160 per litre.
While the government slashed petrol prices to Rs74 per litre in line with the decrease in international oil prices, no such reduction was seen in the price of HOBC.
According to the report, the government has also decided to deregulate the Inland Freight Equalisation Margin (IFEM) that currently ensures uniform prices throughout the country. As a result, consumers that are close to ports and refineries will be able to buy petroleum products at a cheaper price that may differ anywhere from Rs1 to Rs5 depending on the transportation cost.
Earlier, on June 4, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) had taken notice of public concerns and complaints about the shortage of petroleum products in the country and had initiated an inquiry to see whether such a shortage is the result of any anti-competitive activity.
The CCP’s inquiry will determine the possibility of the existence of any anti-competitive practices causing the shortage of fuel in the country and the undertakings involved in it.
The inquiry will further examine why the impact of the reduction in the prices of oil have not resulted in the corresponding reduction in the prices of the lubricants and other oil-based products, including the prices of hi-octane, which are primarily deregulated products.
Similarly, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had also expressed its reservations last week regarding high prices of HOBC and had asked OMC’s to set prices at reasonable levels keeping in view the interests of the consumers.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s aide on accountability Shahzad Akbar has unveiled a comprehensive action plan outlined by the government to take to task the “sugar daddies” identified by the sugar inquiry commission as well as for an overall overhauling of the regulatory framework which had all the while “been in cahoots with the sugar mills”, Geo reported.
“Imran Khan was given a mandate for accountability in 2018. His 22-year political struggle has been for the same. For accountability of the powerful and influential. This was a big test for that mandate,” said Akbar, during a press conference in Islamabad alongside Information Minister Shibli Faraz.
Referring to the all parties conference called by the PPP in Punjab, Akbar went on to say, “This is not an all parties conference, it is an all sugar daddies conference.”
Akbar said that no matter how powerful a person is, no matter the party they belong to, or however wealthy, “no exceptions can be made” for anyone, and this was the line of inquiry followed by the probe commission.
“Transparency is of utmost importance when it comes to accountability. Before we take action over whatever matter is being pursued, it must be put before the people. That is why the report was made public,” said the premier’s aide.
He said the public, farmers, as well as industrial experts had been consulted over an “action matrix” that was developed.
Akbar said that the PM had approved three sets of actions during a meeting in Bani Gala earlier in the day, which he then proceeded to delineate.
These actions form the first set of actions approved by the premier and consist of the punishments to be given as well as the recovery mechanism to be enacted.
Within the broad category, seven major actions, including investigation of subsidy scandal, investigation of income and sales tax fraud, evasion and benami transactions, investigation of cartelisation, inquiry and investigation of export proceeds, loan defaults, write-offs and sale of pledged stocks, investigation of corporate fraud, investigation of potentially fake exports to Afghanistan and money laundering, and breach of provincial laws, were recommended.
With the government approving retrenchment of all 9,350 remaining employees of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) with a one-time severance cost of about Rs20 billion, an old video of now Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has come back to haunt the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Wednesday approved firing all employees of the PSM, reasoning that the mills haven’t been functioning for years and the employees haven’t been doing anything.
There are 9,150 employees who will be fired within a month and another 250 will be let go within three months. The ECC meeting, chaired by Prime Minister’s (PM) Adviser of Finance and Revenue Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, also approved a Rs20 billion package for the employees, which amounts to Rs2.3 million per person.
As the decision made headlines, mixed reactions were drawn. While some lauded the government’s ‘full and final’ human resource rationalisation plan for the PSM employees in accordance with the judgments and observations of the Supreme Court (SC), others criticised the same for leaving thousands unemployed.
Amid war of words on social and mainstream media, an old video of then opposition member Asad Umar resurfaced, wherein he was seen garnering the support of PSM employees by vowing to stand by them if the PTI is elected to power. The undated video is said to be from the tenure of former ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), during which PSM was shut down after becoming a burden on the national exchequer under the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
WATCH VIDEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tZf62l5Vms
“Record this so that you can embarrass me by showing me this video if I backtrack on my promise. If PTI comes to power and PSM employees are deprived of their rights, I won’t be standing with the PTI government, but will be supporting PSM employees instead,” Asad can be heard as saying in the video that is doing rounds over the internet as netizens troll him for “taking a U-turn”.
Meanwhile, opposition parties are also criticising the government for its decision.
Though the mills have been closed for years, they are running a Rs550 billion deficit and billions are being spent on debt servicing. However, the move will not be finalised until it is approved by the federal cabinet.
Reports said that PSM stopped its commercial operations in June 2015 without formulating any human resource plan for its 14,753 employees, now reduced to 9,350. Presently, the per month net salary bill of PSM employees is approximately Rs350 million, adjusted as a loan in the financial accounts of PSM. Since 2013, an aggregate loan of Rs34 billion has been extended to PSM by the government on account of net salary payment.
The federal government has abolished the 48-hour quarantine condition for Pakistanis returning home from abroad, and they would now be sent to their homes after a medical check-up and test at the airports, The Express Tribune reported.
The report stated that the government changed the standard operating procedures (SOPs) because the capacity at quarantine centres had been contracting due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.
According to the new SOPs, all passengers would undergo a complete medical check-up at the airports, while the staff deputed by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and provincial health departments at the airports will test the travellers for coronavirus.
After the medical check-up and the coronavirus test, the passengers will be allowed to go their homes, instead of the quarantine centre, if they do not show any symptoms of COVID-19. The decision about suspected coronavirus patients has been left at the discretion of doctors.
Under the new policy, all the passengers will be checked at the health counters of the airports. The record will carry the names and addresses of suspected coronavirus travellers and will be quarantined at home upon not showing any symptoms.
On Wednesday, the NIH team conducted medical check-ups and coronavirus tests of all the passengers including 281 travellers coming from the United States (US) and 253 travellers coming from Saudi Arabia via a special Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight at the Islamabad airport, after which all the travellers were permitted to go to their homes, the report said.
Meanwhile, with yet another record hike in number of infections, the tally of coronavirus cases in Pakistan now stands at 85,264 with at least 1,770 deaths.
Federal Minister for Law and Justice Dr Farogh Naseem resigned on Monday to represent the government in the Supreme Court (SC) in the presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
This is the second time that Naseem, a Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) stalwart, has resigned from his post. Previously, he had resigned in November last year to represent Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa before the apex court in the case pertaining to the extension in his tenure as the army chief.
Confirming the news of his resignation, Naseem said, “I will ensure that the respect and dignity of judges is maintained. I have no personal agenda. I have the greatest respect for the Bar.”
Last year in September, Justice Isa filed a fresh application requesting the SC to form a full-court bench comprising all eligible judges to hear his petition against the presidential reference filed over non-disclosure of assets in his wealth statement.
Justice Isa had requested that the case be heard by a full court bench comprising all eligible judges of this court since the matter pertained to reference against an SC judge and as per precedent of this court in the case of ex-chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Chaudhry versus president of Pakistan, PLD 2010 Supreme Court.
Justice Isa had said matters narrated in accompanying civil miscellaneous application dated August 26 – “which may for the sake of brevity be read as a part hereof” – demonstrates the necessity for hearing by such full court bench.
“The petition also raises a number of important constitutional questions, including that of the independence of the judiciary, formation of an independent opinion by the president, obtaining federal cabinet’s approval and other vital issues of surveillance, and the manner and method of collecting evidence against a judge of the Supreme Court and his family,” he had said in his application.
On Friday, Justice Isa questioned the eligibility of Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Accountability Shahzad Akbar’s appointment as the head of the Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) and for public office.
A 10-member judge bench, led by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, will resume hearing the case on June 2, which was earlier scheduled to be taken up on March 30. The apex court had postponed the hearing due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On the last hearing on February 24, the federal government had sought a three weeks’ adjournment in the case.
The secret behind the sudden drop in number of new coronavirus cases being reported in Punjab has been revealed as journalist Amber Rahim Shamsi quoted Punjab Minister for Industries, Commerce, Investment and Skill Development Mian Muhammad Aslam Iqbal as saying that lab workers had been given Eid holidays, resulting in less testing.
Mian Aslam just said in his press conference that lab personnel had been given Eid holidays so less testing.
After easing lockdown restrictions, Punjab has generously announced six Eidul Fitr holidays from May 22 to May 27, which means the rate of increase in the number of cases in Punjab started going down Friday as lab personnel, who had been working tough shifts since the outbreak began, started getting off work and heading home to celebrate Eid with their families.
For last 3 months Punjab’s labs staff is working non-stop due to workload of #COVID19 testing. No days-off.
Punjab Health Department has decided to allow them Eid holidays, to give much needed rest to these frontline heroes.
Labs might function at lower capacity during Eid days
The number of COVID-19 infections in Punjab, which increased from 13,914 to 14,584 from May 16 to May 18 and then 16,685 on May 20, stood at 18,455 on Friday with over a thousand cases being reported every day since May 17-18.
However, the same number on Saturday stands at 18,730 with an increase of just 275 cases — unlike what trends had suggested.
“It is true that labs have started working at a lower capacity that is leading to the number of cases going unreported as of yet,” a provincial health official told The Current on the condition of anonymity. They refused to comment on the government’s decision of allowing Eid holidays to lab personnel, but said it was a much-needed relief.
“Things will get back to normal and the testing capacity will be restored after… or maybe even during Eid,” the official added.
By the time this report was filed, the total number of coronavirus infections in Pakistan stood at 52,437 with 1,101 deaths. Sindh topped the chart with 20,883 cases, followed by Punjab with 18,730 infections, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with 7,391 and Balochistan with 3,198. Islamabad had reported 1,457 cases while Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) and Azad Kashmir had 607 and 171 infections, respectively.
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has once again demanded the abolition of the Central Ruete Hilal [moon-sighting] Committee.
Fawad, while criticising the committee, argued that there was no need for such a committee in the modern era.
He also claimed that the committee, which is headed by Mufti Muneebur Rehman, wants Eid to fall on Monday, May 25 instead of Sunday, announcing to reveal motives of the committee behind such a move during a press conference.
Last year, the minister had proposed that a scientific committee should replace the Central Ruete Hilal Committee for the sighting of the moon, which had led to the committee taking strong exception.
Chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman had asked Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan to “rein in” his ministers after Fawad had accused clerics of making lunar sighting for Islamic months a controversial affair every year as well as opposing the creation of Pakistan.
“Fawad Chaudhry’s statement against the opposition is his personal matter, but he should exercise restraint while commenting on religious scholars and not misquote history,” he said. “Who knows… one of them might also have a role in your [Fawad] appointment.”
He had urged the premier to “control his passionate ministers”, who “lack knowledge about the system”.
With the damning inquiry report into the sugar crisis being made public on Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s call, senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen has said he is “shocked at the false allegations levelled against him” as he has “always run a clean business”.
“Audit team of [Tareen-owned] JDW Sugar Mills found some additional information about ‘SATTA’ from interviews as well as forensic analysis of brokers of Punjab,” read the report, adding that during his interview with the investigation team, a broker named Aslam stated that in March 2020 he executed forward trades of around 11,135 trucks worth Rs10,292,219,000 with JDW and Ittehad Sugar Mills.
Tareen, in response to the report, also said the entire country knew that he “paid full price to sugarcane growers”.
I am shocked at the kind of false allegations levelled against me. I have always run a clean business. All Pakistan knows I always pay full price to my growers. I DO NOT maintain 2 sets of Books. I pay all my taxes diligently. I will answer every allegation and be vindicated IA.
— Jahangir Khan Tareen (@JahangirKTareen) May 21, 2020
“I do not maintain two sets of books. I pay all my taxes diligently. I will answer every allegation and be vindicated IA [sic],” he tweeted.
Earlier, the premier’s aide on accountability, Shahzad Akbar, declared the report public in a press briefing and said that it confirmed PM Imran’s long-held view that businessmen in politics would always put business first.
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz has announced the federal cabinet’s decision of handing over operations and management of Pakistan’s major airports to international firms, saying that a special committee to prepare a legal framework by June 30 has been formed.
Briefing journalists about the decisions taken by Tuesday’s federal cabinet meeting under the chairmanship of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, the info minister said that country’s major airports will be outsourced to bring them on par with international standards. “The government is looking for some international firm with rich experience of operating and managing airports.”
He said the cabinet was informed that some firms had already evinced interest in the matter and a legal framework had to be clarified before the tendering process started. “To this effect, a committee, to be headed by Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, would fast track the process,” he said.
According to sources, the members of the committee will include Special Assistant to PM on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfiqar Bukhari, the chairperson of the Board of Investment (BoI) and Adviser on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan as well as Adviser on Commerce, Trade and Industry Abdul Razak Dawood.
About job security of employees working at airports in case of their outsourcing, Faraz said the government, which came to power on the basis of votes of masses, would like to ensure none was deprived of his or her job rather there could be more job opportunities.
