Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday termed the federal budget for fiscal year 2026-27 \u201cpeople-friendly\u201d and hoped that it would promote an \u201cexport-oriented\u201d economy. He made the remarks in a meeting with women parliamentarians from the PML-N, where he thanked them for their participation in the ongoing budget debate.
\nHe expressed hope that people will be able to benefit from the \u201crelief-oriented\u201d budget after the restoration of peace in the region, according to a press statement issued by the Prime Minister\u2019s Office (PMO). According to the statement, PM Shehbaz noted that the budget had introduced \u201cmeasures to empower women in the country as well as increase their inclusion in the mainstream,\u201d terming it a \u201ctop priority\u201d for the government.
\nHe also spoke of Pakistan\u2019s peace efforts in the US-Iran war, expressing gratitude to countries who supported Pakistan throughout the peace process. PM Shehbaz commended the efforts of the Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi for their role in the peace process.
\n\u201cOnly with the establishment of lasting peace in the region, the dream of economic prosperity for Pakistan and other countries can be fulfilled,\u201d he told the meeting. At this, he recalled the government\u2019s efforts to shield the public from a \u201cwave of global inflation\u201d that emerged in the wake of the US-Iran crisis.
\n\u201cWith the cooperation of federal and provincial governments, a historic package was given to the economically weaker sections of the society,\u201d he remarked, recalling a Rs128bn subsidy and austerity drive launched in March. \u201cIn the current situation, the federation and the provinces have fully cooperated to keep the country\u2019s economy stable, for which the provincial governments are deeply grateful,\u201d he stressed.
\nHe outlined that for the next year\u2019s budget, the government will focus on \u201cnational interests, especially increasing water resources, IT, agriculture and minerals, to provide a strong foundation for the Pakistani economy\u201d. The prime minister expressed hope that the collective struggle of \u201cteam Pakistan\u201d will place the country among the \u201cdeveloped world\u201d.
\nDuring the meeting, the women parliamentarians lauded PM Shehbaz for his role in the US-Iran negotiation process as well as the government\u2019s measures for women\u2019s development in the federal budget. \u201cThe MPs presented the prime minister with suggestions regarding ongoing projects and budgets related to public welfare in the relevant constituencies,\u201d the statement read.
\nThe meeting was attended by members of parliament including Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar, Begum Tehmina Daultana, Shaista Khan, Tahira Aurangzeb, Shaista Pervaiz, Muneeba Iqbal, among others. The meeting was also attended by Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and other relevant officials, the statement said.
\nIn the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, the government has announced a three-year freeze on provincial transfers as the government reallocated resources for security needs and relief measures for the salaried, corporate, real estate and export sectors to revive struggling economic activity.
\nIt has also proposed taxes on social media earnings, a fixed tax scheme for small traders and shopkeepers, a higher minimum tax rate for wholesalers and retailers, incentives for small electric vehicles and bikes, and barriers for luxury e-vehicles. During the budget presentation, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said the budget had been prepared with a clear strategy aimed at increasing productivity and promoting exports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday termed the federal budget for fiscal year 2026-27 \u201cpeople-friendly\u201d and hoped that it would promote an \u201cexport-oriented\u201d economy. He made the remarks in a meeting with women parliamentarians from the PML-N, where he thanked them for their participation in the ongoing budget debate. He expressed hope that people will …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":99190,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99176"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99201,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99176\/revisions\/99201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}