Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Monday said the government will have to prioritise high-value projects, as only Rs880 billion has been allocated for development in the upcoming budget for the fiscal year 2025-26. The government has adopted austerity measures for the upcoming budget — set to be announced on June 10 — in line with the demands of
The Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) has agreed to form a technical committee to draft a framework for digital and virtual assets, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. The PCC was officially launched in March to “regulate and integrate blockchain technology and digital assets” into the country’s financial landscape. According to a press release by the finance ministry, the meeting was chaire
Headline inflation rose 3.5 per cent year-on-year in May 2025, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday. On a month-on-month basis, it decreased by 0.2pc in May as compared to a decrease of 0.8pc in the previous month, according to data. This was higher than the finance ministry’s expectations, which had anticipated inflationary outlook to “remain betwe
As part of its strategic direction to declare ‘war on cash’, the federal government is likely to introduce differential tax and transaction rates for cash and digital payments across various sectors, including fuel pricing, in the upcoming budget. This is going to be the most crucial step among many other things that Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has been hinting at in recent days and may
Promises of prosperity often mask a chain of dependency. Across countries and through time, governments have insisted that their policies are designed to serve the common man. From the most advanced economies to the developing world, this narrative is persistent, and Pakistan is no exception. Governments primarily generate revenue through taxation and borrowing. As such, their objectives should