NA continues debate on budget

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Wednesday continued debate of the federal budget 2011-12 which was presented in the house on June 3 by the Federal Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh.

Taking part in the debate on the new federal budget, Humayun SaifullahKhan said the government should focus on hydel electricity generation as it is a cheap source of energy. He said adequate funds should be allocated for the construction of Diamir Bhasha, Kurram Tangi and Neelum Jhelum hydel projects.

He appreciated allocations for the Benazir Income Support Programme in the budget saying it will help improve the lot of the disadvantaged segments of the society.

Participating in the debate Shah Mehmood Qureshi said we need to take difficult decisions to bring about economic revival.

Expressing concerns over high inflationary trends, he said that it has added to the woes of the poor people besides threatening the macro economic situation in the country. He opposed the imposition of GST on agriculture products and said rather we should give incentives to the agriculture sector for its growth on sustainable basis. He said taxes should be imposed on all the sectors including the agriculture income.

Ayaz Amir of PML-N said that the defence budget should be discussed and brought under scrutiny in the parliament. He said that the defence budget is discussed in every parliamentary democracy and it is not labeled as anti-patriotism. (PPI)