ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly approved on Monday the budgets of another 49 departments, including the massive head of subsidies and other miscellaneous expenditures, worth Rs469.99 billion — the second largest allocation after the defence budget.

The total volume of the grants approved by the lower house came to around Rs1.75 trillion. Even though the opposition introduced over 500 cut motions to amend these allocations, none of them was passed as the government used its majority in the house to full effect.

The legislature approved a budget of Rs1.56 billion for the finance ministry, as well as a further amount of Rs17.87 billion as the budget for another unspecified head, ‘Other Expenditures of Finance Division’.

Incidentally, there are no specific details of this head in the budget documents, except that Rs67 million is meant for employee-related expenditures, Rs85.43 million for operating expenditures and Rs17.71m for grants, subsidies and written-off loans.

Dar defends heavy borrowing, claims current debt bill lower than PPP govt’s

An amount of Rs8.05 billion was approved for atomic energy and Rs5.31 billion for the Airport Security Force.

Superannuation allowances and pensions, which is the third largest head in the budget after defence and subsidies, was allocated Rs240.27 billion, which includes Rs192.46 billion for the pension of defence forces’ employees.

The other main heads passed on Monday included Rs173.91 million for the federal cabinet, Rs5.64 billion for the Cabinet Division — including Rs4.53 billion for Intelligence Bureau (IB) — and other expenditures of the advisers to the prime minister, the PM’s emergency relief cell and the central pool of automobiles.

An amount of Rs881.59 million has been approved for the PM Office, which includes Rs188.45 million for the staff and their families, Rs95.69 million for the servants of the PM and their families, Rs40.25 million for state conveyance and motor cars and Rs29.44 million for the gardens of the PM’s estate, including the salaries of 74 gardeners.

The prime minister’s own salary, according to budget documents, is Rs1.28 million for the upcoming financial year, while his travelling expenses amount to Rs2.86 million. The PM also has a budget for ‘presents and charities’ to the tune of Rs4 million.

This does not include an allocation of Rs21.8 million, made by the Central Development Working Party for the bathrooms of the PM Office, which invited scorn and sarcasm from opposition members during Monday’s sitting.

An allocation of Rs5.39 billion has been approved for ‘Other Expenditures of the Cabinet Division’, which includes the office of special assistant to the PM, National Commission for Government Reforms, the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority, the Intellectual Property Organisation, Public Procurement Regulatory Authority and the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation, among others.

The Rs469.99 billion approved for subsidies includes Rs17 billion in grants to provinces, support for flood- and earthquake-affected people in Chitral, and federal support for various projects across the country, including GB and AJK.

A budget of Rs58 billion has been approved for the Higher Education Commission, which includes grants and subsidies to universities and educational institutions across the country.

At least Rs5.24 billion has been approved for the Controller General of Accounts, Rs1.02 billion for Meteorology, Rs239.82 million for the Board of Investment and Rs3.96 billion for the Federal Board of Revenue.

Around Rs6.93 billion was sanctioned for the offices of the customs department across the country, and Rs11.17 billion for the offices of the FBR’s inland revenue department.

Around Rs550.77 million was approved for the Federal Public Service Commission, which got a lot of flak from PPP’s Nafisa Shah for being a figment of colonial times and perpetuating the rule of the elite classes to this day.

Dar’s defence

In his remarks on the floor of the house, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar responded to opposition criticism of the government’s heavy borrowing by comparing his government’s loan-taking to the previous regime. He claimed that under the PPP government, the nation’s debt had swelled by Rs9,000 billion. In 2013, he claimed, Pakistan owned $42 billion, while the external debt bill currently stood at $38.9 billion.

Saying that the West could not bear to see the country prosper, he said those who were criticising the government for taking loans were playing into the hands of Pakistan’s ill-wishers.

“Foreign powers don’t want Pakistan to prosper. How will the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor be completed if we don’t take more loans,” was his argument.

The finance minister also reprised the tradition of shedding expensive watches, when he handed his own wristwatch to Jamshed Dasti after the latter took issue with Mr Dar’s ownership of a million rupee timepiece. “If Mr Dasti can get Rs50,000 for it, he should donate it to charity,” he said, as the treasury benches applauded their approval.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2016