Budget 2020-21: Federal Minister Hammad Azhar presents budget

The federal budget for the fiscal year 2020-2021 will be presented today in the national assembly with a major focus to manage the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

According to details, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar will present the budget in the National Assembly.

Budget 2020-21 will have a volume of Rs 7600 billion, whereas the amount of Rs 4950 billion is set as the target of tax revenue.

However, according to reports, the budget deficit is likely to be more than Rs 3427 billion.

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— National Assembly of Pakistan (@NAofPakistan) June 12, 2020

Government employees are likely to see a 10% rise in their salaries as well.

Rs 1402 could be spent on defense, however, interest and debt repayment are estimated at Rs 3235 billion.

The federal budget is likely to set Rs 475 billion for pensions, while Rs495 billion could be set aside for federal ministries and departments.

The Centre can also spend Rs 260 billion on subsidies and Rs 820 billion in grants. The federal development budget will be kept at Rs 650 billion.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called for ending the sales tax exemption for all sectors.

Moreover, it is also expected that income tax, FED, and GST rates for non-filers are also likely to increase.

Withholding tax is likely to be levied on foreign currency transactions.

On the other hand, Federal Excise Duty (FED) may be levied on e-cigarettes and it has also been proposed to extend the scope of advance income tax to dealers, distributors, and retailers.

In addition to this, withholding tax on electricity bills of up to Rs 33,000 is proposed to be increased from 5% to 7.5%, on bills of Rs 33,000 to Rs66,000 to 10% and 15% on bills of over Rs 66,000.

Earlier The Pakistan Economic Survey revealed that the government had achieved considerable success in narrowing the trade deficit — the difference between imports and exports — as well, shrinking it by 27.8%.

This was achieved mainly due to lower imports, which declined 19% to $40.9 billion in the July 2019-May 2020 period.

Exports also fell 6.9% to $19.8 billion in the same year, in part due to the global coronavirus shutdown.