Members of the National Assembly on Friday expressed confidence that the incumbent coalition government would soon be able to improve the ailing national economy due to the corrective measures it had proposed in the federal budget 2022-23. Participating in the budget debate in House, Shahnaz Saleem Malik of the Pakistan Muslim League-N termed the next fiscal plan ‘balanced & people-friendly’ and hoped that the coalition government would steer the country out of the inherited economic crisis.
She held the previous government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf responsible for the sky-rocketing inflation, caused by its wrong economic policies and the agreements signed with the International Monetary Fund.
The lawmaker said the coalition government had taken sufficient measures by providing relief and incentives to the farming community to promote the agriculture sector, which was considered the backbone of the national economy.
She appreciated the government for increasing the pay and pension of the employees as it would help lessen their financial problems to a great extent. Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf of the PML-N said although the country was passing through a critical time, but the government would hopefully tackle all the confronted challenges with collective wisdom. He asked for paying special attention to the development of agriculture sector on strong footing and introducing innovative ways of cultivation, besides reducing the input cost ensuring the appropriate rate of agri-produces to growers.
He called for providing special incentives to the growers for installation of renewable energy generation plants for tube-wells and hybrid tractors to bring down the cost of inputs making agricultural produces more competitive.
He highlighted the importance of establishing industrial units for manufacturing hybrid batteries for tractors and solar panels that would help reduce the cost of inputs and save energy.