NA approved federal budget 2020-2021.

Islamabad -- The National Assembly (NA) on Monday has approved federal budget 2020-2021 in a session amid protest by the opposition benches.

The budget was moved by Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar who said that the government has presented a tax free budget and it envisages relief measures not only for the construction sector but also for promotion of mobile phone manufacturing and electric vehicles.

He said duties and taxes on import of sixteen hundred raw materials have been brought to zero. It is the first time that the annual development plan carries the biggest allocations for Balochistan and Sindh, he told.

As per the budget documents, gross revenue receipts have been estimated at 6,573 billion rupees. The FBR tax collection target has been set at 4,963 billion rupees while the non-tax revenue is estimated to be about 1,610 billion rupees.

The net capital receipts have been estimated at 1463.2 billion rupees, which are 75.93 percent higher than the outgoing fiscal year.

External receipts for the next year are estimated at 2222.9 billion rupees.

The development expenditure outside PSDP has been estimated at 70 billion rupees in the budget.

The total federal expenditures are estimated at 7137 billion rupees with a budget deficit of 3437 billion rupees, which is seven percent of the GDP.

The size of Public Sector Development Program for 2020-21 is 1,324 billion rupees. Out of this, 676 billion rupees have been allocated to provinces.

The government has formulated a special development programme worth 70 billion rupees to offset the negative impact of Coronavirus pandemic and other calamities and improve the living standard of people. Ten billion rupees have been earmarked to provide relief to the agriculture sector and fight the crop munching locusts. Besides, the government reserved 69 billion rupees for water related projects. Allocations for Ehsaas Programme have also been enhanced to protect the vulnerable groups of the society.

Taking the floor, Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar said the government has presented a tax free budget and it envisages relief measures not only for the construction sector but also for promotion of mobile phone manufacturing and electric vehicles. He said duties and taxes on import of sixteen hundred raw materials have been brought to zero.

He said it is the first time that the annual development plan carries the biggest allocations for Balochistan and Sindh.

The...