Islamabad: In a session of the National Assembly, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), articulated the reasons behind his party’s support for the federal budget.

Bhutto Zardari highlighted the government’s decision to increase the allocation for the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) by 20 percent. The program, originally envisioned by the late Benazir Bhutto, has been a focal point of PPP’s social welfare efforts. He criticized the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) administration for attempting to undermine the initiative in past budgets.

He praised the current Prime Minister for consistently enhancing BISP’s funding since taking office. The government has also raised the income threshold for tax exemption from Rs 600,000 to Rs 1.2 million annually, he noted.

Another significant policy change he mentioned was the reduction of tax on solar panels from 18 percent to 10 percent, a move made after objections from PPP members.

The curtailment of arrest powers of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) was also welcomed by Bhutto Zardari. Arrests in tax cases can now only occur in proven fraud cases, and these offences have been made bailable.

“These are the reasons why the PPP is supporting this budget,” Bhutto Zardari concluded in his address.