Lahore-Majority of the citizens have rated the federal budget below expectations having nothing to offer to the low-income class already hit hard by the spiraling inflation, according to a survey conducted by The Nation.
Four in five people The Nation talked to believed that the budget will not have any positive impact on their lives as it had nothing to offer to the low-income class. “Following two difficult years, we had high expectations from the new government; but it has disappointed us. It jacked up fuel prices even before the budget and now we are left to survive on our shrinking incomes,” said Ejaz Ahmad, a small trader at Cooper Road.
Though the government has taken a slew of measures in the budget to ameliorate the lot of common man, a few were elated with the budget announcements about increasing the taxable income from Rs0.6 million to Rs1.2 million and Rs2,000 per month allowance for people earning less than Rs40,000 a month.
“All budgets are for the rich. Common people like us are just made to pay more for the edible and other items,” said Nawab Siddique, a vendor at Hall Road.”
Unmindful of anything mentioned in the budget, the majority of the traders at Hall Road seemed more concerned about the power outages, anticipated reduction in business hours and the recent unprecedented hike in prices of petroleum products and electricity.
“You see, these are the things that matter the most in our business”, said Mohammad Abubakar, who runs a small shop of cell phone.
Even though many hoped for some kind of relief in the wake of Covid-19 conditions, none of the announcements made in the budget speech had any direct link to bring down the inflation. “How can we make our domestic budget in a situation where the income is static while the prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed”, said Faiza Yusuf, a housewife who also showed concern over recent hike in the power tariff.
The government employees in general seemed quite satisfied with a 15 percent raise in their salaries. “Actually, we were not expecting more than 10 percent raise this time; the extra 5 percent has come as a bonus,” Amir Farooq, an employee at the civil secretariat said with a smile on his face. However, he was much worried about the enhanced prices of fuel and electricity. “The impact of a 15 percent raise will be nullified by the rising inflation,” he added.
Four in five people The Nation talked to believed that the budget will not have any positive impact on their lives as it had nothing to offer to the low-income class. “Following two difficult years, we had high expectations from the new government; but it has disappointed us. It jacked up fuel prices even before the budget and now we are left to survive on our shrinking incomes,” said Ejaz Ahmad, a small trader at Cooper Road.
Though the government has taken a slew of measures in the budget to ameliorate the lot of common man, a few were elated with the budget announcements about increasing the taxable income from Rs0.6 million to Rs1.2 million and Rs2,000 per month allowance for people earning less than Rs40,000 a month.
“All budgets are for the rich. Common people like us are just made to pay more for the edible and other items,” said Nawab Siddique, a vendor at Hall Road.”
Unmindful of anything mentioned in the budget, the majority of the traders at Hall Road seemed more concerned about the power outages, anticipated reduction in business hours and the recent unprecedented hike in prices of petroleum products and electricity.
“You see, these are the things that matter the most in our business”, said Mohammad Abubakar, who runs a small shop of cell phone.
Even though many hoped for some kind of relief in the wake of Covid-19 conditions, none of the announcements made in the budget speech had any direct link to bring down the inflation. “How can we make our domestic budget in a situation where the income is static while the prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed”, said Faiza Yusuf, a housewife who also showed concern over recent hike in the power tariff.
The government employees in general seemed quite satisfied with a 15 percent raise in their salaries. “Actually, we were not expecting more than 10 percent raise this time; the extra 5 percent has come as a bonus,” Amir Farooq, an employee at the civil secretariat said with a smile on his face. However, he was much worried about the enhanced prices of fuel and electricity. “The impact of a 15 percent raise will be nullified by the rising inflation,” he added.
