Budget, a way forward in crisis situation: Treasury lawmakers.

ISLAMABAD -- The lawmakers from the treasury benches on Tuesday said the government presented best possible budget, for the upcoming fiscal year 2020-21, at a time when apparently there was no way forward owing to the effects of the coronavirus that had engulfed the whole country.

Participating in the budget debate at National Assembly, Wajiha Akram of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lauded the efforts by Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Federal Minister for Industries Hamad Azhar and their financial team for presenting balanced budget at a time when there seemed to be no way forward.

She lauded the role played by health workers in fighting coronavirus at frontline and also lauded education ministry for launching National Action Plan for education to ensure continuation of education amid coronavirus disease so that students do not suffer.

Wajiha highlighted the importance of raising Kashmir issues with more force at appropriate forums, saying that India had badly failed in its efforts to isolate Pakistan and in contrary was itself isolated in the region.

Participating in the debate, Zahoor Hussain Qureshi said the economic indicators show that the economy of the country was progressing well before the spread of coronavirus.

He said the COVID-19 badly affected the economy, however despite these challenges the budget had a focus on relief of common and poor people.

He said that it was a very good budget in the prevailing situation, adding that the Ehsas programme was sufficient to prove it as poor-friendly budget. He said the government was working hard to mitigate the effects of coronavirus and its negative impact on economy.

He demanded the government to give proper heed towards agriculture, which he said was only sector that could pull the country out of current crisis. Currently, he said, the locust was causing damages to agriculture sector, which needed to be addressed to ensure food security. He termed the locust as an equal threat as coronavirus.

He also stressed the need for revival of cotton crop, which he said was backbone of economy as many industries were depending on it.

Ali Gohar Khan while participating in the debate raised questions on various government projects including Tsunami tree plantation campaign. He said that proper attention was not given in construction of Peshawar Metro while the targets set for wheat procurement were not met during the current fiscal year.

Faiz Ullah Kamoka...