Mini-Budget & Affects

People’s hopes are tied to every coming budget,There was a lot of expectation from the money budget of the people who were mired in swamp of inflation, poverty and unemployment.Who died at that time,When the government proposed to implement the tax of 144 essential items, The government will get only Rs 343 billion in revenue from the mini budget. it will also increase poverty, If in their place only  tobacco and sweet drinks were added to the tax, On an annual basis, the health burden would be less than one trillion rupees, diseases would be cured and billions of rupees of revenue could be earned.

The budget is an estimate of revenue and expenditure for a specific future period.Which is presented to the Members of Parliament after being publicly compiled and re-examined.The state, in addition to generating budget revenue, takes into account the needs, resources and problems of its people and institutions, or should do so. An additional budget means that profits are expected,A balanced budget means that revenue is expected to be equal to expenditure.And a deficit budget means spending will outweigh revenues,The current mini-budget seems to be presenting a similar situation. If the tax on 144 items is approved, then after the implementation, the expenditure of the people will exceed their income, as a result of which the prospects of further increase in inflation, poverty and unemployment will be bright.

By no means this does not mean, My dear readers are unfamiliar with the meaning of budget,No not at all, In fact, I would like to draw your attention to the recent mini-budget and its effections.

According to the report of Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) dated April 25, 2021, the number of tobacco users in Pakistan, which is one of the world’s largest tobacco users, is 24 million.While the total expenditure on diseases and deaths caused by smoking in 2019 was Rs 615.07 billion. Of course, with the passage of two years, there has been an increase. In contrast, the tobacco industry pays only Rs 120 billion as tax,Which was only 20% of the total cost of smoking. Each year, the tobacco industry declare  cause of  illegal trade of tobacco products  to the impose higher taxes of tobacco products. Which are completely different from the facts,According to research, the total direct and indirect cost of smoking-related cancers, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases is Rs 437.76 billion. That’s 3.65 times high the total tax revenue from the tobacco industry (120 billion in 2019). In fact, the use of tobacco costs its people directly and indirectly.It is also a fact that a large proportion (71%) of the cost of smoking comes from cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, which account for 1.6% of the total cost of smoking. while the cost of cancer,  heart and respiratory diseases is 1.15% of GDP.

My Pakistanis are suffering from deadly diseases like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer.

Diabetes kills 1,100 people every day in Pakistan.In addition, the government faces a  2640 million annual health burden on diabetes-related diseases. 8 studies from different countries tell us that consumption of sugary drinks increases the risk of diabetes by 30%,Similarly, obesity is a very important disease in non-communicable diseases, it is a major cause of heart, respiratory and other diseases.In 2015, the Government faced a  428 billion health burden on obesity-related diseases.One of the main reasons for this is the use of sugary drinks.

If we look at the total cost of heart, cancer, diabetes, obesity, respiratory diseases, they exceed one trillion rupees.its  opponent has put a revenue estimate of Rs 343 billion in the mini-budget presented in the recent parliament.  The essentials of the common man will be obtained by increasing the tax. Which will gradually increase poverty, inflation and unemployment, However, if only increase tax on the key  factors that cause these diseases, Not only will you be able to control diseases, but you will also be able to get rid of foreign loans, which will be a source of billions of rupees in revenue.