Peshawar - An anatomy of the federal budget for the year 2022-23 leads one to conclude that it has very little to offer to the public as the underprivileged class is likely to face more difficult days ahead.
The budged announces 15% pay raise for government departments’ employees and 5% increase in pensions and also there are some other sectors where it offers some benefit to some spheres including agriculture.
However, the wave of inflation is likely to go up further as the end users, ie the public, will suffer. While the government has announced pay raise for government employees, a majority of the country’s population works in the private sector: labourers, drivers, daily wagers, small and big businesses, and other private white-collar jobbers, etc, and all those working in the private sector only need reduction in taxes and prices of commodities.
But the taxes were increased in the budget. For instance, those wishing to sell lands will be taxed while a new tax called fixed tax has also been proposed on the businesses-persons. This new tax on the businesses, if implemented, will further burden the public because the tax will prompt the businesses to increase the prices of various products and ultimately the public will have to bear the brunt.
Instead of raising govt employees’ salaries at a time when country faces financial crunch, govt could have either reduced prices of flour, sugar or decreased gas, power tariff that would have benefited all including govt, private sector workers
The budget offers very little in terms of reducing prices of various commodities, which would have trickled down to the public and benefited them; the prices of commodities remain the same.
While the country faces financial problems, the government should have increased the salaries of government employees by only 7% and the money from the rest of 8% could have been used to lower the prices of sugar and flour, the two commodities being used by all the masses of the country.
The business community based in Peshawar has also criticised the federal budget and said that now they were looking to the provincial government to announce a business-friendly budget.
The traders say the federal budget would adversely affect the small traders too. Also, the government did not announce any reduction in the gas and electricity tariff in the budget.
The budged announces 15% pay raise for government departments’ employees and 5% increase in pensions and also there are some other sectors where it offers some benefit to some spheres including agriculture.
However, the wave of inflation is likely to go up further as the end users, ie the public, will suffer. While the government has announced pay raise for government employees, a majority of the country’s population works in the private sector: labourers, drivers, daily wagers, small and big businesses, and other private white-collar jobbers, etc, and all those working in the private sector only need reduction in taxes and prices of commodities.
But the taxes were increased in the budget. For instance, those wishing to sell lands will be taxed while a new tax called fixed tax has also been proposed on the businesses-persons. This new tax on the businesses, if implemented, will further burden the public because the tax will prompt the businesses to increase the prices of various products and ultimately the public will have to bear the brunt.
Instead of raising govt employees’ salaries at a time when country faces financial crunch, govt could have either reduced prices of flour, sugar or decreased gas, power tariff that would have benefited all including govt, private sector workers
The budget offers very little in terms of reducing prices of various commodities, which would have trickled down to the public and benefited them; the prices of commodities remain the same.
While the country faces financial problems, the government should have increased the salaries of government employees by only 7% and the money from the rest of 8% could have been used to lower the prices of sugar and flour, the two commodities being used by all the masses of the country.
The business community based in Peshawar has also criticised the federal budget and said that now they were looking to the provincial government to announce a business-friendly budget.
The traders say the federal budget would adversely affect the small traders too. Also, the government did not announce any reduction in the gas and electricity tariff in the budget.
