Islamabad (Staff Report): Prime minister's adviser on finance Miftah Ismail has taken oath as new finance minister.
Ismail was appointed federal minister for finance, revenue and economic affairs on Thursday. His appointment was recommended by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and approved by President Mamnoon Hussain
Ismail will present the federal FY 2018-19 budget in the national Assembly on Friday (today).
The PML-N-led government will be the first government in the country’s history that would present the sixth budget in its five-year constitutional tenure.
The opposition parties had asked the government to present a four-month budget, allowing the next government to give the remaining financial plan.
The budget’s total outlay is around Rs 5.5 trillion with 5.3 percent of the GDP deficit. The government has allocated Rs 1.1 trillion for defence for the next fiscal year as against Rs 920 billion for the outgoing year.
The government has set a tax collection target of Rs 4,433 billion for the Federal Board of Revenue. The federal government would transfer Rs 2,550 billion to the provinces under the National Finance Commission (NFC) award. It is likely to allocate a subsidy of Rs 219 billion for the next fiscal year with Rs 119.400 billion earmarked for the power sector.
