NA Passes Finance Bill 2021, 240 Lawmakers Participate In Budget Debate

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jun, 2021 ) :National Assembly on Tuesday passed the Finance Bill, 2021 with majority vote and as many as 240 lawmakers participated in debate on Federal budget which continued for around 10 days.

Minister for Finance Shaukat Fayaz Ahmed Tarin moved the Finance Bill, 2021 in the House following which the opposition lawmakers debated it. PPPP MNA Nawab Yousaf Ahmed Talpur demanded to conduct counting on the motion moved for consideration of the bill.

A total of 172 lawmakers voted in favor of the motion while 138 lawmakers opposed it. The motion was passed with majority vote which led to the passage of Finance Bill, 2021 after clause by clause reading as well as voice voting along with amendments.

Earlier, around 240 MNAs participated in the budget debate which formally continued from June 14 to June 24, 2021 (10 working days) while a total of 128 demands for grants were also approved.

According to the Rule 187 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of business in National Assembly 2007, not less than four days shall be allotted for the general discussion on the budget. However, the National Assembly continued debate on the finance bill, 2021 for 10 days.

The National Assembly could not initiate debate for three consecutive days (June 14 to June 16, 2021) due to ruckus in the House and tussle between the treasury and the opposition benches. The formal debate started on June 17, 2021 and it continued till June 24, 2021.

The House also discussed recommendation of the Senate and 12 MNAs expressed their views on it. The Finance Minister concluded debate on Finance Bill, 2021 on June 25, 2021.

The House held discussion on the Charged Expenditure included in Demands for Grants and Appropriations for the financial year ending on June 30, 2022.

The House approved 128 demands for grants related to various departments and ministries.

Detained leaders including Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah (PPPP) and Ali Wazir (IND) also attended the sitting on June 29 after issuance of their production orders by speaker and participated in the debate on Finance Bill, 2021. Nine others lawmakers also spoke on the fianc� bill and demanded to make it people friendly and reduce indirect taxes.

Prime Minister Imran Khan also attended the sitting and the House passed the Finance Bill 2021 after clause by clause reading.

The total volume of the federal budget for fiscal year 2021-22 is Rs 8.48 trillion with allocation of Rs2,135 billion under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) � an increase of 37 per cent from last year's development allocations.

In the budget, Rs 900 billion is earmarked for federal PSDP, Rs 12 billion for agriculture sector, Rs 118 billion for power distribution, Rs 61 billion for Viability Gap Fund, Rs 14 billion for Climate Change mitigation projects, Rs 100 billion for Covid-19 Emergency Fund and Rs 12 billion special grant for Sindh.

Similarly, an amount of $ 1.1 billion is specified for vaccine procurement and Rs 66 billion for Higher Education Commission for education programs and Rs 44 billion under the development fund in the budget.

Later, the House was adjourned to meet again on Wednesday at 11:30 am. The House will further consider supplementary demands for grants following which the budget session will be prorogued sine die.