President Alvi formally approves Finance Bill 2020-21

ISLAMABAD: President Dr. Arif Alvi formally approved the Finance Bill 2020-21 on Tuesday under Article 75 of the Constitution.

Alvi gave his approval to the 2020-21 finance bill after it was approved by the National Assembly, a press release issued by President House reads.

A day earlier, NA had approved the federal budget for the fiscal year 2020-2021 (FY20-21) despite a vote by the opposition not to let it navigate the House. On June 12, the Minister of Industry and Production, Hammad Azhar, presented a budget of Rs 7.14 trillion.

Government banks have successfully passed the 2020 finance bill to give effect to the financial proposals. The House, however, rejected the amendments proposed by the Opposition in the bill.

Prime Minister Imran Khan also attended the session.

'Enemy of the people'

A day earlier, the Opposition had agreed to build a united front against the budget and made fiery speeches on national issues at the session. In addition to protesting the budget, its lawmakers have also decided to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Imran.

The main opposition leaders of the PPP, PML-N, and JUI-F previously described him as an "enemy of the people". In response to the budget, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif said it would cause increased inflation and unemployment.

The government's former ally, BNP-M leader Akhtar Mengal had also announced his party's move to break the alliance with the ruling coalition, causing a momentary obstacle for the government by exhausting its numbers in the House.

Highlights of the 2020-21 budget

• The total size of the 2020-21 Budget is Rs 7,136 million, 11% lower than the budget size in 2019-20.
• The availability of resources during 2020-21 has been estimated at Rs6,314.9 billion against Rs4,917.2 billion in the 2019-20 budget estimates.
• Net income received for 2020-21 has been estimated at Rs3,699.5 billion, indicating a 6.7% increase over the 2019-20 budget estimates
• Provincial participation in federal taxes is estimated at Rs2,873.7 billion during 2020-21, which is 11.7% less than budget estimates for 2019-20.
• Net capital income for 2020-21 has been estimated at Rs1,463.2 billion against budget estimates of Rs831.7 billion in 2019-20 reflecting an increase of 75.93%.
• External revenue in 2020-21 is estimated at Rs2,222.9 billion. This shows a 26.7% decrease over the budget estimates for 2019-20.
• Development spending outside the PSDP has been estimated at Rs70.0 billion in the 2020-21 budget.
• The size of the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) for 2020-21 is 1,324 crore. Outside of this, Rs 676 billion has been allocated to the provinces.
• The federal PSDP has been estimated at Rs650 billion, of which Rs418.7 billion is for Federal Ministries / Divisions, Rs 100.4 billion for Corporations, Rs3 billion for the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) and Rs70 Billion for Incoming COVID and Other Natural Calamities Program.