ISLAMABAD: Looking firm to impose the raise in General Sales Tax in the budget, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar the decision of increase would not be rolled back.
He was winding up the budget in the parliament with an appeal to all political forces to join hands for solving economic woes of the country.
Some of the major thing he informed are as follow:
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Annual development budget increased to 540 billion rupees.
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 Several measures announced in the budget to gear up economic activities and generate employment opportunities for the youth.
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Under the medium term plan‚ PML-n government plans to enhance investment to twenty percent ratio of GDP. The move will create numerous opportunities for the skilled workers and youth.Â
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Benazir Income Support Programme will continue and its volume has been increased to seventy-five billion rupees from forty billion rupees.Â
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Beneficiaries of the programme will now get 1200 rupees per month.Â
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Regarding minimum wage was announced to be ten thousand rupees as was announced by Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces.Â
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Tax slabs have been rationalized to put minimum burden on low income groups
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Subsidy on fertilizers has been increased to 30 billion rupees from ten billion rupees.Â
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Arrangements have also been made to ensure import of fertilizers on time.
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The government will have to contact IMF and other financial institutions to retire the debt taken by the previous government as the country has to pay over three billion dollars debt during the next financial year.
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Circular debt of over five hundred billion rupees will be cleared within sixty days. Three hundred and twenty-six will be retired before the 30th of this month.
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Increase of one percent to remain intact as there is a need to put the country on the path of fiscal discipline and self-reliance.Â
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GST rate will be reduced once the country’s resources allowed us to do so.
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It has been decided to impose ten to fifteen percent withholding tax on rental income in place of 17.5 percent.Â
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Tax rebate for researchers‚ teachers and non-profitable institutions is being revised to forty percent from seventy-five percent.
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No tax has been imposed on Hajj pilgrims only tax on Hajj operators has been increased from Rs.2500 to Rs. 3500
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The zero rating is restored on milk and dairy products‚ stationary items and bicycles on the recommendations of the members.
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Withholding tax has been increased to fifteen percent from ten percent on the users of cellular phone.Â
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Payment of tuition fee for higher education was earlier extended to the students of interior Sindh and three divisions of South Punjab including Multan‚ Bahawalpur and D.G Khan. Now this facility is being extended to Kohistan‚ Malakand and Dera Ismail Khan.
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A comprehensive plan in under preparation for overseas PakistanisÂ
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