The National Assembly has passed the Finance Bill 2018 giving legal cover to the budgetary proposals for the next financial year. A number of proposals given by members during debate on the budget and recommendations of the Senate have been incorporated either fully or partially but the basic structure of the budget remains as announced by |Finance Minister on 27th of last month.

The new budget, which is for full year, envisages incentives and relief for industry, agriculture and different segments of the society.

Speaking in the House after approval of the budget, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail thanked Almighty Allah for providing opportunity to the government to present its sixth budget. He said despite many challenges, the present government took forward the country on the path of economic development. He also thanked the members of the Parliament for their positive contributions in the budget.

The Finance Minister also announced honoraria equal to five months basic pay for the employees of National Assembly and Senate as well as the staff of different departments who were deputed for the budget session.

He assured that the honoraria will be paid to the staff before the completion of the tenure of the present government.

The House also approved all the 127 supplementary demands for grants pertaining to different ministries and departments for the current fiscal year.

The house held discussion on the supplementary demands for grants and appropriations for the current fiscal year.

Responding to the points of the opposition members, Finance Minister Miftah Ismal admitted that the foreign exchange reserves have gone down and that the current account deficit is a serious issue.

He, however, said we have turned the tide as exports have witnessed an upsurge over the last few months.

In the month of March, the exports grew by twenty four percent while in April these increased by eighteen percent.

The House has now been adjourned to meet again on Moday at 3:00 pm.