Will not create a budget with a huge gap: Finance Adviser

Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed has stated that he will not prepare a budget with a large gap. "We will not take loans for big mega projects, running deficits to fund them. We will not borrow huge amounts from banks or print money for such projects," he said.

He made these remarks after the meeting of the Procurement Committee at the new building of the Cabinet Division on Tuesday (13 May).

The adviser mentioned, “We have a slight shortage of oil. We have discussed bringing rice bran oil. Most of the proposals come from the Ministry of Water Resources. Our riverbanks have eroded, and we’ve approved projects to address this. If we don’t conserve the rivers, we will see continuous erosion during the monsoon. Therefore, six projects have been initiated. The rest of the projects are related to food storage. Additionally, a decision has been made regarding LNG imports."

In response to customs officials' complaints that their opinions were disregarded when the NBR ordinance was issued, he said, "We don't want to comment on this matter. They can say whatever they want. You should read the matter carefully and see that their interests are protected. So there’s no reason for them to be worried. The NBR is following international practices as per their terms of reference. The Policy Division and the Implementation Division are separate in every country. The Policy Division should be run by professional people who understand economic statistics and GDP. NBR will handle the implementation."

He further added, "The policy involves those whose job is collection. I made the policy, and I also implemented it. I assure you that the ordinance was carefully considered. It’s not that no discussions were held with them. Of course, discussions took place with members of NBR, even though it’s not possible to consult with all the thousands of staff. Some comments from administrative officials were also considered, and discussions with them were held."

When asked whether this would impact revenue collection, the adviser replied, "Revenue collection has already increased by 2% compared to last time. This is not discouraging. Therefore, I expect that it will at least not be less than last time. We will implement the budget reasonably. I will not create a budget with a huge gap. We will not borrow heavily for large mega projects, run a deficit, or print money. There will be some deficit, but we will negotiate the projects with the IMF and the World Bank."

When asked whether the budget will be smaller than last year, he said, "You will know that when the time comes."