Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb will present the federal budget for the next fiscal year (FY26–27) in the National Assembly on June 12. an adviser to the minister has confirmed.
Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad shared the revised budget schedule in a post on X.
He added that the Pakistan Economic Survey for the outgoing FY2025–26 would be launched at 2:20pm on Thursday by Aurangzeb.
Budget sessions of the National Assembly and Senate have already beensummonedby President Asif Ali Zardari.
The National Economic Council (NEC), the highest economic decision-making forum of the federation,met earlier on Wednesdayto finalise federal. provincial development plans ahead of the budget presentation.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who chaired the meeting, said the Centre held consultations with the provinces on all matters “with extreme seriousness,. we made decisions in the best interest of Pakistan”.
The NEC finally met after being delayedthree times. as negotiations had continued over the freezing of provincial shares in the federal divisible pool under the National Finance Commission (NFC) award.
The budget presentation in the parliament hadearlier been setfor June 10.
The federal government, its coalition partners. provincial governments had beenstrugglingto reach a consensus over the Centre’s demand for more than Rs1 trillion for strategic needs.
However, the ruling PML-N. its major ally, the PPP, on Mondayreached a consensuson the broad framework of the federal budget.
They reached a broad agreement on cutting development. other expenditures at all tiers of the federation to cover around Rs800 billion revenue shortfall this year and jointly create similar, but higher, fiscal space next year for additional “strategic needs”.
Under the agreement, provincial shares from the federal divisible pool would stay frozen at the current fiscal year’s position. Any increase in the targeted revenue next year on top of the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) collection in the current year would be retained by the Centre. informed sources said.
The sources said the additional amount being discussed for next year to be given up by the provinces was not fixed but dynamic, depending on FBR revenue collection,. could range anywhere between Rs1.3tr and Rs1.7tr.
Interestingly, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were not part of the deal so far.
Under tight International Monetary Fund (IMF) oversight, the government has trimmed allocations for most sectors in the next federal development programme to create additional fiscal space for the PML-N’s trademark national highways, a new Rs87 billion share for coalition partners. a Rs70bn allocation for ruling party lawmakers’ schemes.
Yet, the government hasunveileda record national development programme of Rs4.715tr.
The overall development portfolio comprises the largest share of provincial annual development plans (ADPs) at Rs3.138tr (up 9.6pc), followed by the federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) of Rs1.126tr, up 12.6pc from the current year,. Rs451bn from state-owned enterprises (SOEs), up 27pc from Rs355bn in the current fiscal year.
PM Shehbaz has said that the government wastaking measuresto bring the informal economy into the tax net.
The government last weekunveiledthe ‘Fixed Tax Asaan Scheme’ to bring small traders. shopkeepers into the tax net, with an annual turnover of up to Rs200 million.
The government is alsoconsideringrelaxing the remittance cap in the upcoming budget as overseas Pakistanis in several countries face difficulties in protecting their investments. liquid assets abroad, according to sources in the financial industry.
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