&w=3840&q=100)
Pakistan raises defence budget by 20% after Op Sindoor, cuts overall outlay
Pakistan Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb unveiled the annual federal budget for FY 2025-26 on Tuesday, expanding the budget for the defence sector by 20 per cent to 2.55 trillion rupees ($9 billion), following the conflict with India in May.
The federal budget for FY 2025-26 has a total outlay, the sum of expenditures and net lending of funds, of 17.573 trillion Pakistani rupees ($62 billion), representing a 6.9 per cent decrease from the previous year's budget.
Pakistan allocated 2.1 trillion Pakistani rupees ($7.45 billion) for defence in the outgoing fiscal year, including $2 billion for equipment and other assets. An additional 563 billion Pakistani rupees ($1.99 billion) was set aside for military pensions, which are not counted within the official defence budget.
At the beginning of his speech, Muhammad Aurangzeb said: 'This budget is being presented during a historic moment, as the country pressed on through difficult times.'
'This budget is being presented at a historic time when the nation showed unity [and] determination,' he said, mentioning the recent India and Pakistan conflict.
He said that the taxpayer base in Pakistan has increased by 100 per cent. He also said the government will bring a tariff reforms package to increase exports of the country.
Pakistan's growth
Pakistan government has projected 4.2 per cent economic growth in 2025-26, saying it has steadied the economy, which had looked at risk of defaulting on its debts as recently as 2023. Growth in FY25 is likely to be 2.7 per cent, against an initial target of 3.6 per cent set in the budget last year.
The growth of Pakistan lags far behind the region. In 2024, South Asian countries grew by an average of 5.8 per cent and 6 per cent growth is expected in 2025, according to the Asian Development Bank.
The IMF has urged Pakistan to widen the tax base through reforms, which include taxing agriculture, retail, and real estate.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
13 minutes ago
- India Today
Setback for India: Jairam Ramesh after US general praises Pakistan's terror fight
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh questioned the Indian government on Wednesday over recent remarks by a top United States military official praising Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts. Taking to X, Ramesh wrote, 'Recently, the head of the US Central Command called Pakistan a 'great partner in the counter-terrorism campaign'. What will our Prime Minister and his ovation say to this? Is this not a diplomatic setback for India?'advertisementHis statement followed US Central Command chief General Michael Kurilla's testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, where the outgoing commander described Pakistan as a 'phenomenal partner' in counter-terrorism comments came at a time when India had been actively campaigning to expose Pakistan's support for cross-border terrorism, particularly after the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in April. During the hearing, General Kurilla urged Washington not to adopt a zero-sum approach in South Asia, stating that the US must maintain strategic relations with both India and Pakistan."We need to have a relationship with Pakistan and with India. I do not believe it is a binary switch that we can't have one with Pakistan if we have a relationship with India,' he said. 'We should look at the merits of the relationship for the positives that it has.'advertisementKurilla's remarks came even as India stepped up diplomatic efforts to hold Pakistan accountable for its alleged role in the Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 people on April 22. In response, India carried out precision air strikes on terror infrastructure across the border in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May military escalation ended on May 10 after the Directors General of Military Operations from both countries reached an officials, including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, had reiterated that India would not accept any equivalence between victims of terrorism and the perpetrators. New Delhi also expressed concern over multiple international responses that appeared to hyphenate India and Pakistan during the brief military Kurilla, who is expected to retire later this summer, also spoke about Pakistan's role in combatting the Islamic State's regional affiliate, ISIS-Khorasan, also known as IS-KP. He acknowledged efforts by the Pakistani military and army chief General Asim Munir in countering the terror Watch
India Gazette
38 minutes ago
- India Gazette
Haryana: Hisar Court rejects bail plea of YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra
Hisar (Haryana) [India], June 11 (ANI): A court in Haryana's Hisar, on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, arrested for allegedly sharing sensitive information and being in continuous contact with a Pakistani citizen. Jyoti's lawyer, Advocate Kumar Mukesh said, 'Her bail plea was filed before JMFC Sunil Kumar's court and a reply from Police was sought today. After the reply from Police, I argued in the evening, the Court rejected her bail plea this evening.' Earlier on Monday, a court in Hisar extended the judicial custody of YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra by 14 days. According to her lawyer, Kumar Mukesh, the court had previously sent Malhotra to judicial custody on May 26, which concluded on June 9. Malhotra appeared before the court of Sunil Kumar on June 9, and the next hearing has been scheduled for June 23. Malhotra will appear in court again on that date. Kumar Mukesh said, 'The last hearing took place on 26th May, during which the court of Sunil Kumar had sent Jyoti Malhotra to 14 days of judicial custody, which concluded today, 9th June. She appeared again before the same court today, and now the next hearing has been scheduled for 23rd June. Jyoti Malhotra will appear in court again on that date.' He said that the police are analysing Jyoti's bank account and the data recovered from the phone and laptop. He said that the podcast of Jyoti Malhotra with a Pakistani YouTuber that has surfaced talks about brotherhood only. Earlier on May 29, the lawyer said that Jyoti has made videos for her YouTube channel at different places and has also gone abroad with a visa. On May 26, the court sent Jyoti to judicial custody for fourteen days. Jyoti allegedly met a Pakistani officer, Ahsan-ur-Rahim, in Delhi, travelled to Pakistan twice, and shared sensitive information. During the preliminary investigation, the woman told the police that she went to the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi in 2023 to apply for a visa and met a man named Ahsan-ur-Rahim, alias Danish. (ANI)
India Today
2 hours ago
- India Today
Crippled by Op Sindoor strikes, Pak eyeing Germany for air defence upgrades
Rattled by the devastating impact of BrahMos missile strikes during India's Operation Sindoor, Pakistan is now exploring the procurement of a new air defence system to counter future to sources, Islamabad is actively considering the purchase of the IRIS-T SLM air defence system from Germany in a bid to strengthen its aerial shield against India's supersonic cruise missiles, particularly the move comes after Pakistan's existing Chinese-origin air defence systems, including the HQ-9 and HQ-16, failed to detect or intercept Indian missile attacks during the operation. In contrast, the IRIS-T SLM system has demonstrated significant effectiveness in recent combat situations. In Ukraine, where several units were redirected from Egypt due to the ongoing war, the German-made system has reportedly shot down over 60 aerial targets since its deployment last it was said to have successfully intercepted Russian Oniks missiles, which are similar in profile to India's by Diehl Defence, the IRIS-T SLM is known for its modular and compact architecture. Each unit, estimated to cost around USD 200 million, includes radar, an operations centre, and launchers, all mounted on a 20-foot interest in the system highlights its urgent push to rebuild and upgrade its air defence network, particularly after key air bases were damaged by Indian missiles during Operation grappling with a severe economic crisis, Pakistan has raised its defence budget by 18 per cent this year while simultaneously scrapping domestic development projects valued at 1,000 billion Pakistani the past month, the country has secured financial assistance totalling USD 1.8 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to address its fiscal Germany's Diehl Defence, the maker of the IRIS-T SLM, is also involved in a major Indian defence initiative. The company is collaborating with Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems on Project 75I, a Rs 70,000 crore programme to build six submarines for the Indian Indian-German collaboration also includes the development of the Interactive Defence and Attack System (IDAS), which will be integrated into the India's Reliance Defence has announced a partnership to manufacture Vulcano 155mm precision-guided artillery shells domestically. The initiative is expected to generate revenues of approximately Rs 10,000 crore, with over 50 per cent of the components to be produced indigenously.
