ISLAMABAD — Finance Minister Ishaq Dar presented Pakistan's federal budget for the year 2013-14 in the National Assembly on Wednesday. According to the government's proposed budget unveiled in parliament, as reported in Daily Dawn, the Pakistan Muslim League — Nawaz (PML-N) government expects Pakistan's 2013-14 fiscal deficit to narrow to 6.3 per cent of gross domestic product. The proposed budget of Rs 3.5 trillion is expected to be funded partially by tax revenues of around 2.75 trillion rupees, Dar said. The finance minister said that the government will spend the bulk of the development budget on the energy sector and that a total of Rs 225 billion have been allocated for the purpose. It was also revealed during the assembly that Rs 59 billion have been allocated for the construction of new dams. The budget is expected restrict power sector losses by bringing down subsidies and gradually increasing electricity tariff for all consumers. According to Dar, the government is looking to take austerity measures to bring the economy back on track. He also said that the government was hoping to save Rs 40 billion from the government's kitty by pursuing its planned austerity drive. Dar said that the government had decided to freeze and scrap all secret funds for all ministries, except for national security agencies. The finance minister added that the prime minister's discretionary fund had also been scrapped, and that the expenses of the prime minister's House will be brought down by over 40 per cent. He also announced that 3G telecom licenses will be auctioned and foreign exchange reserves will be raised to $20 billion in three years. In addition to the above measures, the government also plans to build a more efficient road network infrastructure across Pakistan. The Gwadar sea port will be linked to the northern areas of the country through a road link, and that the Pakistan Railways will be converted into a corporation. As reported in Daily Dawn, Pakistan's tax-to-GDP ratio during the previous PML-N government in the 90s was 13.8 per cent, however, that figure had plummeted to only 8.9 per cent. Additionally, Dar announced that the government planned to bring tax-to-GDP ratio back up to 15 per cent and that the government's objective was to make tax evaders pay taxes, and widen the tax net. — SG
