Pakistan’s new finance minister presents budget as oppn protests

ISLAMABAD: The outgoing PML-N government's newly appointed finance minister Miftah Ismail presented its sixth budget in Parliament on Friday amid opposition protests calling for a budget covering only the remaining three months of the administration’s tenure.

The defence budget was set at Rs1,100 billion, from a revised budget estimate of Rs 999 billion for the previous year, or 18.5% of the total outlay.

During Ismail's address, members of the opposition continued their protests and uninterrupted chanting of slogans. They surrounded his dias and threw papers in the air.

Opposition members also ripped apart copies of the budget while PML-N lawmakers encircled Ismail's dias to keep protesters at a distance.

Ismail said the government is using data mining and other technologies to catch tax evaders. "We have given people one last chance to declare their domestic assets. We will catch them and prosecute them if they do not avail our tax amnesty package," he said.

According to a copy of the budget 2018-19, the total outlay has been set at Rs 5,932.5 billion, up from Rs 5,103.88 billion last year

The target GDP growth rate for the upcoming fiscal has been set at 6.2%, against 6% for 2017-18. The total tax target is Rs 4,888.6 billion, of which taxes comprise Rs 4,435 billion.