President urges efforts to strengthen economy
President Asif Zardari on Monday, citing the country's vast potential for development, called for concerted efforts to build a robust and self-reliant national economy.
The president, in a meeting with Pakistan Peoples Party leaders and workers at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on the occasion of Eid ul-Azha, extended Eid greetings to them.
He praised the workers as the strength of the party, acknowledging their steadfast support during challenging times. He urged them to remain dedicated to the nation and contribute to its progress.
He also called for working together for the country's development and prosperity.
He highlighted agriculture as the cornerstone of the national economy, stressing the need to prioritize its growth and support farmers to strengthen economic foundations. The president expressing concerns over rising extremism in India, said that the Indian minorities, especially Muslims and Christians, faced discrimination and oppression. India's extremist Hindutva ideology poses threats to the entire region, he added.
He also underscored the deep historical, religious, and cultural roots of Muslims in the subcontinent.
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Express Tribune
an hour ago
- Express Tribune
PTI tears into 'elite-driven' budget
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rejected the federal budget 2025-26 both inside and outside the National Assembly on Tuesday, calling it an "IMF-dictated budget" that lacks public legitimacy and launching a two-pronged attack: an aggressive protest on the assembly floor and a pointed press conference soon after. The finance minister's second consecutive budget speech kicked off under fire, with the opposition benches erupting into noisy protest from the get-go. As Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb began unveiling the budget, PTI lawmakers rose to their feet, banged budget books on their desks, blew whistles, and held up posters calling for the release of former prime minister Imran Khan. Throughout the presentation, they chanted slogans against the government, branding the budget illegitimate and anti-people. Undeterred by the uproar, the finance minister pressed on, while treasury members donned headphones to tune out the opposition's noise. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who entered the house amid the commotion, remained seated and unflinching, as ruling party lawmakers formed a protective cordon around him to avoid any direct clash with the protesting members. Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan led from the front, setting the tone for a coordinated protest and ensuring every PTI lawmaker played their part. Remaining on his feet throughout the session, he repeatedly slammed the budget book on his desk and signalled to fellow members to stay engaged. Lawmakers tore papers and flung them into the air at intervals. After the initial outburst, opposition members moved en masse toward the area between the speaker's desk and the prime minister's seat, continuing their chorus of slogans without letting up. The disruption echoed the tense scenes from last year's budget session, when the finance minister's maiden speech faced an equally turbulent reception from PTI-turned-Sunni Ittehad Council lawmakers. Then as now, the protests included loud chanting, desk-slamming, paper-tearing and close proximity to the PM's seat, prompting treasury members to act as a human shield. Shortly after the session, senior PTI leaders, including NA opposition leader Omar Ayub, PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and Leader of Opposition in Senate Shibli Faraz, addressed a joint press conference, reiterating their categorical rejection of the budget. "This is not a people's budget; it's an IMF budget designed to serve elite interests," the opposition leader said. Ayub questioned the government's economic claims, particularly the projected GDP growth of 2.7%, and sarcastically asked: "Who counted the donkeys and did they differentiate between the four-legged and two-legged ones?" He dismissed the budget as detached from reality, pointing to deepening inequality, inflation and declining industrial output. PTI information secretary was more scathing, calling the budget "economic gallows" for the people, saying it was not a budget for the nation rather a public execution plan. He further said that PTI considers this a "Leela budget" - implying the budget is a farce that ultimately sacrifices common people like goats at slaughter while the elite's interests are protected. He questioned the logic behind token relief for the salaried class and warned that the development allocations were unrealistic and insincere. Opposition leader in the Senate, Shibli Faraz, added that the government had broken all previous records of elitist budgeting. The opposition leader in the Senate said that budgets have been made for the ruling class for decades, but this year's budget has broken all previous records of elite budgeting. Criticising the government, Faraz said: "When such legislation and budget-making takes place in Parliament, it is not just undemocratic but hostile to the country's interest." Faraz also noted that the Afghan currency had appreciated more than the Pakistani rupee, calling it an indicator of the government's failure. "When a government comes to power through Form-47s, it lacks the trust needed for serious reform," he said, warning that economic manipulation without legitimacy would not bring progress. Addressing the media, Faraz condemned the government's handling of inflation and taxation, particularly for salaried individuals. He remarked that the salaried class was being relentlessly squeezed, stating, "as much blood as can be drawn from them is being drawn." He questioned how a country could progress while functioning on what he described as "IMF crutches". Faraz also criticised the state's response to peaceful demands from government employees, noting that when government workers began protesting for their rights, the entire Red Zone of Islamabad was sealed off. "Those who ask for their lawful rights are treated as if they are doing something wrong," he said. PTI secretary general Salman Akram Raja described the document as one that "makes the rich richer and the poor poorer," saying the salaried class and poor people were burdened further. All leaders also reiterated their demand for the release of PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife, describing their incarceration as illegal and politically motivated. They called the ongoing legislative process illegitimate and demanded the restoration of constitutional order, public mandate and rule of law. Earlier, the protest in the assembly followed a detailed strategy discussion in PTI's parliamentary party meeting, held hours before the session. The party rejected the 2025-26 budget outright, terming it a continuation of policies dictated by the IMF. Lawmakers reiterated their stance that the current government had no mandate to present the budget, arguing that it was formed through manipulated election results and did not reflect the will of the people. In its official statement, the PTI parliamentary party declared that the government had no legal or moral authority to legislate on behalf of the public. "This is an IMF budget, not a people's budget," the party said, vowing to resist its passage at every forum, including both the National Assembly and Senate. It condemned the economic hardships faced by ordinary citizens, stating that while the poor were crushed under inflation, the ruling elite continued their lavish lifestyles unchecked. The party also expressed strong disapproval of NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq's conduct, accusing him of acting as a partisan figure rather than a neutral custodian of the House. Lawmakers demanded that the speaker act according to his constitutional role rather than serving party interests. It was also decided in the meeting that a privileged motion would be moved if opposition speeches continued to be censored on national broadcasts. PTI lawmakers further resolved to raise the issue of media blackout on their speeches in the assembly and to protest outside if necessary.
Express Tribune
2 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Rs1tr PSDP marked by political priorities
The computers along with latest printers and scanners to be provided to public sector girls schools working under FDE. PHOTO: FILE Marred by political considerations and fiscal constraints, the coalition government has proposed a Rs1 trillion Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for FY2025-26 – a significant cut from last year's original Rs1.4 trillion allocation. The reduced PSDP reflects the government's prioritization of infrastructure projects, particularly roads, often aligned with coalition allies' interests. In contrast, funding for education, health, space, and atomic energy programmes has been scaled back. The previous year's PSDP was trimmed mid-year to accommodate power subsidies and meeting IMF programme targets. For 2025-26, allocations for Sindh-specific schemes and parliamentarians' discretionary projects have increased, indicating a tilt toward politically strategic spending. The PSDP 2025-26 book shows the government's political priorities to appease allies and spend more on roads. It approved reduced budgets for Pakistan's space and atomic energy programmes, health and education but increased allocations for Sindh-specific projects and the parliamentarians' schemes. Major allocations have been proposed for the discretionary spending on the schemes recommended by the parliamentarians, Sindh-specific infrastructure projects and an enhanced allocation for the National Highway Authority. The allocations for water, power and railways have been drastically reduced to create fiscal space for the politically oriented projects. As against this year's Rs25 billion budget for discretionary spending on the parliamentarians schemes, the allocation has been proposed at Rs70 billion in the new budget, showing an increase of 172% in the middle of the tight fiscal space. The defence ministry's development budget has also been increased by 114% to Rs11.6 billion for the new fiscal year. For the provinces, special areas allocations have been proposed to be increased from Rs227 billion to over Rs253 billion due to coalition party-related spending compulsions. Within this, the allocation for the provincial projects has been proposed to be increased from Rs83 billion to Rs106 billion. The 28% increase in the provincial projects' allocations has been mainly given to address the concerns of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), said a cabinet minister on condition of anonymity. Pakistan had committed to the IMF that the federal government would not allocate funds for provincial nature schemes. However, such a huge allocation is in breach of that commitment and the National Fiscal Pact. The Higher Education Commission's budget is drastically reduced to Rs39.4 billion, a reduction of Rs21.5 billion or 35%. The cut has been made to create room for spending on infrastructure projects. The health ministry's budget is cut to Rs14.3 billion – a reduction of Rs10 billion. Suparco's budget has been reduced from Rs24.2 billion to just Rs5.4 billon — a cut of 77% compared to the last year. The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission's budget is reduced from Rs25 billion to Rs781 million, a reduction of 96%. A Finance Ministry official said that these entities had self-generated resources and did not need major allocations from the budget. Currently, 1,071 development projects with a total cost of Rs13.4 trillion are under implementation. These projects require an additional Rs10.2 trillion for their completion, and the planning ministry estimates it would take more than a decade to finish them all. The government has also proposed Rs16.2 billion for the information technology ministry, which is lowered by 32% over this year's allocation. The planning ministry stated that the PSDP 2025-26 has been formulated under a resource-constrained environment, marked by fiscal discipline, yet guided by an unwavering focus on development priorities. It added that drawing from the lessons of the ongoing PSDP 2024-25 and recommendations from various institutional reviews, including those under the IMF's Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA) framework, a thorough review has been undertaken to prune the sick and non-performing projects in order to focus on priority projects that contribute to national development, economic growth and Uraan Pakistan framework. In the new budget, the government has planned to complete or initiate work on some mega and core national projects. These projects include N25 Quetta-Karachi, which is being funded by increasing petroleum levy by Rs8 per litre. Other priority projects include Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway M-6, Dasu Hydro Power Project, including evacuation, Diamer Basha Dam projects, Mohmand Dam, K-IV and Water Augmentation projects of Karachi, Supply of power to Allama Iqbal Industrial City, Karachi and Islamabad IT Parks. The government has also included the World Bank-funded Pakistan Raises Revenue project in its priority list, which is considered a failed project. The planning ministry stated that among other priority projects are reconstruction of houses and schools damaged in Sindh in floods, Post-flood 2022 Reconstruction Programme in Balochistan, Thar Coal Rail Connectivity, Cancer Hospital in Islamabad, Prime Minister's National Programme for Control of Hepatitis 'C' and Diabetes. The document showed that the government has reduced the allocation for the water projects from Rs185 billion to Rs133.5 billion — a cut of Rs52 billion compared to last year. It also slashed the railway ministry allocation from Rs35 billion to Rs22.5 billion — a reduction of 37%. The power sector development budget allocation is reduced from Rs105 billion to Rs90 billion — a reduction of 28%. However, the NHA's budget is increased from Rs161 billion to Rs227 billion — a jump of Rs66 billion or 41%. The NHA budget has been increased to fund major infrastructure projects. Among the priority road schemes are widening and improvement of N-5 (Phase-I), Mashkhel Panjgur Road and East Bay Expressway Phase-II in Gwadar. Strategic advancements in space science are also prioritised through the Pakistan Manned Space Mission and the Pakistan Lunar Exploration Rover, according to the Planning Ministry.
Business Recorder
2 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Bilawal rejects India's unsubstantiated, politically- motivated allegations
LONDON: The head of Pakistan's parliamentary delegation, visiting United Kingdom, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has again categorically rejected the baseless Indian allegations levelled against Pakistan without credible investigation or verifiable evidence in backdrop of Pahalgam incident. He was briefing the All Party Parliamentary Group on Pakistan during a meeting hosted by the Pakistan Chair and Member of British parliament Yasmin Qureshi at Westminster Palace in London. The meeting was also attended by the cross-party British parliamentarians. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari highlighted that Indian attack on civilian population, violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and unilateral holding in abeyance of the Indus Water Treaty - in blatant violation of the international law and modern rules-based system - could have dangerous consequence for the regional and international peace and security. The attention was drawn to what it described as India's 'unsubstantiated and politically motivated allegations' following the Pahalgam incident. Bhutto said India had 'levelled serious accusations against Pakistan without any credible investigation or verifiable evidence,' adding that Islamabad 'categorically rejected these baseless claims'. 'These actions by India are not just irresponsible, but pose serious risks to peace and stability in South Asia and beyond,' he said. The delegation is a part of Pakistan ongoing diplomatic outreach to the international community on the deteriorating region security situation due to Indian aggression against Pakistan after the Pahalgam incident. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari briefed the parliamentarians of the repercussions of the Indian aggression and violations of the Pakistan's sovereignty after the Pahalgam incident, without justification on the basis of investigation or inquiry. In his remarks, Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordina-tion, Musadik Malik, apprised the parliamentarians of the environmental hazards of holding the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance by India, threats to food security and survival of 240 million population of Pakistan, primarily an agrarian economy. The delegation emphasized that Pakistan response to Indian aggression was calibrated, responsible and fully consistent with international law, including the right to self-defence under Article-51 of the United Nations Charter. The delegation underscored Pakistan commitment to restraint, revival of the Indus water Treaty and initiation of a composite dialogue between the two countries on all outstanding issues, particularly the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. The APPG meeting chair Ms Qureshi reaffirmed the importance of sustained parliamentary dialogue on human rights and regional peace, and lauded the Pakistani delegation's efforts to keep UK lawmakers informed on developments in South Asia. The briefing comes at a time of heightened tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, with Pakistan expressing concern over what it sees as India's attempts to unilaterally alter regional dynamics through aggressive military and diplomatic postures. The Pakistani delegation urged the international community, particularly the UK, to play a proactive role in de-escalating tensions and ensuring adherence to international norms.
