Leader of the House in the Senate, Dr. Shahzad Waseem has said that the new budget has been presented in line with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vison of empathy, sacrifice and reforms.

Speaking in the Upper House over the next year’s budget today (Monday), he said 144 billion rupees are being distributed among 12 million deserving families in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic under Ehsas programme.

He said the government immediately announced an economic stimulus package of worth 1200 billion rupees and 875 billion of them have been allocated in the new budget.

He said 200 billion rupees were allocated for daily wagers, 100 billion rupees for small and medium enterprises, while utility bills of common people were deferred for three months.

Regarding sacrifice, Dr Shahzad Waseem said Prime Minister Imran Khan has proved this fact by example and saved around 180 million rupees in the allocated amount for the Prime Minister office.

Commenting on reforms programme, Leader of the House said no country can sustain and yield far-reaching results without having reforms in its institutions.

He said the PTI-led government expedited the reforms process to strengthen state institutions.

He said publication of sugar inquiry report and fixing responsibility of the sugar scam is the bright example of government policy of transparency and accountability.

Dr Shahzad Waseem said measures have also been proposed for ease of doing business in Pakistan and we should shift from luxury imported items to ‘Made in Pakistan’ goods.

He said revamping Pakistan’s economy was the top priority of the PTI government after coming to power.

The leader of the House said tax revenue witnessed an increase of 17 percent, non-tax revenue 134 percent, and record number of filers as a result of government’s efforts to document Pakistan’s economy.

He said international financial institutions like Moody’s, World Bank, and Bloomberg recognized stability in Pakistan’s economy. He, however, said PTI-government inherited a debt ridden economy as a result of corruption, callousness, and massive loans by the previous regimes.

The leader of House urged the parliamentarians to present their suggestions and the government will welcome positive budgetary proposals from the lawmakers.

He assured the House that the PTI-government strongly believes in people-centric decisions in the best interest of the country and general public.