Finance Minister of Pakistan, Dr. Miftah Ismail has officially announced the annual budget of 2018-19 which assigns PKR 66 billion to Science and Technology, reports Tribune. As per the report, the budget will be allocated to 19 ongoing projects and 11 new projects.

Pakistani telecommunication companies previously proposed to the Ministry of Finance for the rationalization of IT and telecom tax in the country. These companies also presented various proposals for government’s consideration for the upcoming budget of 2018-19. However, it appears that the telecom sector which is already heavily taxed sector in the country is getting no relief and the industry as a whole doesn’t seem to be much satisfied with this newly proposed budget.

Furthermore, the new budget does not fare well for the smartphones industry, as the government has imposed additional taxes on mobile phone imports.

FBR & MITT (Ministry of Information Technolgy & Telecom) finalized the appropriate Telecom tax proposals in the budget 2018-19. Earlier this year, Senate Standing Committee for Information Technology and Telecommunication also showed concern over high telecom taxes imposed on the consumers by the government.

After their concerns were paid no heed by the government, the local industry does not seem very optimistic about the budget being effective for the given financial year. However, it is yet to be seen whether this budget will get approved from parliament or not, considering that general elections are nearing and the opposition parties have already strongly protested against this proposed budget.