Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is all set to unveil next year’s budget on June 10. In the days leading up to his much-anticipated budget speech on the floor of the National Assembly, much is being discussed in the public domain on what could be and shouldn’t be on the government’s priority list. At a pre-budget meeting last week, Aurangzeb promised to shift the tax burden away from the sal
WE are days away from the budget now and its details are still being worked out. Here is some of what we know thus far. They are likely to announce an FBR revenue target around Rs14 trillion (maybe slightly higher). Current expenditures are supposed to stay just below Rs23tr, of which around Rs16tr are federal and the rest from the provinces. The underlying primary balance (deficit plus interes
Amid final consultations on the budget, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants strict compliance with programme requirements, including the coverage of agriculture income tax in provincial budgets to ensure effective collection starting no later than September 2025. The Fund also does not agree with a plan for incentivising enhanced power consumption desired by the federal government to ab
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has approved a reduction in duties on over 7,066 tariff lines, which include raw materials, intermediate and capital goods aimed at stimulating industrial growth in the country. The premier green-lit the proposals for a formal announcement in the budget speech, which had received earlier approval from the Tariff Policy Board and Steering Committee. However, the pr
Despite stronger dollar inflows this fiscal year, importers are struggling to access foreign currency, with prices rising beyond official rates, banking industry sources said on Wednesday. According to bankers, only 20 to 30 per cent of importers are currently able to get permission to buy dollars for import payments. This comes even as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) maintains there are no fo