The federal budget for the upcoming fiscal year (FY26-27) is set to be presented in the upper and lower houses of the Parliament today.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb was expected to present the financial plan in the National Assembly at 3pm, but the session has yet to begin.
Meanwhile, the federal cabinet approved the budget for the upcoming fiscal year in a meeting held at the Parliament House.
In a post on X ahead of the NA session, PM Shehbaz said the budget has been prepared with “a lot of hard work and sincerity”.
He added that the “welfare and prosperity of Pakistan’s great nation has been given utmost priority”.
The premier also met with a delegation of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), its coalition, where the two sides had discussions about the budget.
PM Shehbaz termed the MQM-P an “important allied party of the government”, hailing its “positive and constructive role in the development of the country, economic stability, and the completion of the agenda for public welfare”.
Unprecedented security arrangements have been taken around Parliament House.
All roads leading to the building were blocked by security staff as employees of the secretariat group staged a protest at the Constitutional Avenue to press the government for fulfilment of their demands, including an increase in salary.
The coalition government is set to unveil fresh tax measures worth Rs660 billion to Rs700bn in the budget, according to a Dawn report.
In contrast to the broader revenue measures, the budget carries highly targeted good news for mid- and upper-level income earners.
Significant relief is planned for salaried individuals earning between Rs230,000 and Rs341,000 a month in the upcoming budget, but a large segment of those making between Rs100,000 and Rs183,000 per month may not see any change, official sources said.
On Wednesday, Aurangzeb said the government would offer special incentives for agricultural productivity and the housing sector in the budget and provide end-user interest rates in single digits for 10 years.
He said a new taxation operating model for retailers and a “faceless” tax system — a digital and centralised system involving no contact between officials and taxpayers — would also be announced in the budget.
PM Shehbaz has said that the government was taking measures to bring the informal economy into the tax net.
