The government plans to push the highly contentious Finance Supplementary Bill, 2021, for approval at a session of the National Assembly on Monday, 10 January.
Sources representing the National Assembly (NA) Secretariat told ProPakistani that the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has produced a summary for the deliberation on the approval of the bill.
President Dr. Arif Alvi convened the meeting of the National Assembly. for Monday, January 10, 2022, at 4 PM under Article 54 (1) of the Constitution.
The government introduced the Finance Bill in the Senate on 4 January, and Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani had told the House Finance Committee to submit its findings within three days. The Minister for Finance, Shaukat Tarin, had presented the Finance Amendment Bill to the concerned standing committee during the meeting.
However, despite the efforts of the benches to keep the Senate session going amid loud protests and numerous walkouts by lawmakers from the Opposition, the speaker was forced to postpone the proceedings until Friday (today) due to a lack of quorum.
During the proceedings, members of the Opposition tore copies of the Finance Bill, surrounded the Speaker’s dais, and warned that they would vigorously oppose the government’s move to pass the bill. They also accused the incumbent government of sacrificing the state’s financial autonomy through these bills, which they claimed would cause more economic difficulties for Pakistanis who are already facing staggering inflationary pressures and unemployment.
From the outset, the Finance Bill, which seeks to amend certain laws related to taxes and duties and the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2021, must be okayed for Pakistan’s sixth review of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to be approved by the IMF’s Executive Board that is scheduled to meet on 12 January to decide about the disbursement of a $1 billion tranche.
