NA Speaker urges cohesion in making legislation on national issues

Islamabad- Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan says the government has introduced deep seated reforms to improve the efficiency of the energy sector.

Participating in the budget debate in the National Assembly on Monday, he said the previous government of PML (N) signed expensive power contracts and the country continues to bear the brunt of it in the form of capacity payments.

He said the PML (N) government also abandoned renewable energy projects of four thousand megawatts. He said we gave the renewable policy and revived the renewable energy projects to improve their share in the energy mix. This, he said, will accrue a benefit of four thousand billion rupees to the country in the next fifteen years.

The Minister for Economic Affairs said the PTI government signed a cheaper LNG agreement with Qatar, which will help the country save 3.5 billion dollars in ten years. He said we have made massive investments in the power distribution and transmission system and steps are also being taken to address the issue of circular debt.

Participating in the budget debate, Raja Pervez Ashraf said efforts should be made to ensure food security saying this is important for the development of the country. He said the budget envisages no incentives for the farmers. He said the proposal of granting arrest powers to the FBR should be withdrawn as it will only pave way for harassment of taxpayers.

Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul said the budget envisages allocation of 260 billion rupees for Ehsaas program which will help extend assistance to the downtrodden segments of the society.  She said the PSDP worth 900 billion rupees will help accelerate the process of development in the country.

Mian Javed Latif said the budget 2021-22 is not people friendly as loans will be taken to meet the deficit. He said if the economic indicators are on a positive trajectory, then why the prices of essential commodities are high.

Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, in his budget speech, said a new NFC award should be announced so that the provinces could effectively fulfill their responsibilities. He said funds should be given for the development of tribal districts.

Minister for Defense Pervez Khattak, in his budget speech, said that the government has presented the best budget and the whole country is commending it. He said the budget will bring economic revolution in the country.  He said change is taking place in the country with improvement in the living standards of the people.  He said we have given incentives to the industries and construction and this has started providing job opportunities to the people.

The Minister for Defense rejected the opposition parties’ criticism saying they can no longer hoodwink the masses.