Salary, pension hikes on the cards
The federal government is set to present today a budget of approximately Rs17,600 billion for the fiscal year 202526 in the National Assembly.
Ahead of the budget announcement, a special meeting of the federal cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shehnaz Sharif at 4pm, will approve the budget draft, as well as proposed increases in salaries and pensions of government employees.
Alongside these increases, there is also the possibility of tax relief for salaried employees.
According to sources, preparations for the budget session have been completed, and the official schedule has been released. National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has called a consultative meeting of parliamentary leaders ahead of the NA session that will start at 5pm.
According to the official notification, the meeting chaired by the speaker will determine the strategy for the budget session, including the duration of debates on the budget and related matters.
The budget, to be presented today (June 10), is expected to be approved on June 26 and 27. Federal Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb will present the budget in the National Assembly.
Speaker Sadiq has also approved the schedule for the budget session, according to which there will be no assembly sessions on June 11 and 12 and debate on the federal budget will begin on June 13 and continue until June 21.
Finance Minister Aurangzeb will conclude the budget debate on June 21. On June 23, the assembly will discuss essential expenditures allocated for 202526.
On June 24 and June 25, there will be debate and voting on demands for grants and cut motions. The Finance Bill will be passed on June 26, and on June 27, there will be further debate and voting on supplementary grants and other matters.
For the upcoming fiscal year, the current account deficit is projected at -0.5% of GDP, or around $2.1 billion. The export target has been set at $35.3b, while imports are expected to reach $65.2 billion.
In the services sector, exports are targeted at $9.6 billion, and imports at $14 billion. The government also aims to receive $39.4 billion in remittances, bringing the combined target for exports of goods and services to $44.9 billion, and for imports to $79.2 billion.
The proposed average inflation target is 7.5%, while GDP growth is targeted at 4.2%. Sectoral targets include 4.5% growth in agriculture, 4.3% in industry, and 4% in the services sector.
The budget sets goals for gross investment at 14.7% of GDP, fixed investment at 13%, public investment at 3.2%, and private investment at 9.8%. National savings are projected to reach 14.3% of GDP.
Further sector-specific growth projections include 6.7% for major crops, 3.5% for other crops, 7% for cotton ginning, 4.2% for livestock, 3.5% for forestry, and 3% for fishing.
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