All eyes will be on the National Assembly today (Friday) as the federal budget for the fiscal year 2021-22 will be presented in the lower house of parliament.
Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin unveiled the Pakistan Economic Survey 2020-21 a day earlier, will present the PTI-led government’s budget. The session will begin at 4:00pm.
Orders of the Day for #NASession to be meet on 11th June, 2021 at 4:00 pm#Budget2021 #NASession pic.twitter.com/Nhksj9FRKc
— National Assembly of Pakistan🇵🇰 (@NAofPakistan) June 10, 2021
According to Radio Pakistan, the federal cabinet will meet in Islamabad today to discuss and approve budget proposals. Prime Minister Imran Khan will preside over the meeting.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that all of Pakistan’s economic indicators were positive, adding that the country was moving towards economic stability after a long time.
“The country’s people and institutions have full faith in Prime Minister Imran Khan which has made economic and political stability possible,” he said. The minister also urged the opposition to treat accountability and reforms separately, and take part in talks on electoral and judicial reforms.
الحمداللہ پاکستان کے تمام معاشی اعشاریے مثبت ہیں،طویل عرصے بعد پاکستان معاشی استحکام کی طرف بڑھ رہا ہے،عوام اوراداروں کاوزیراعظم پر مکمل اعتماد ہےاس لئے سیاسی اور معاشی استحکام ممکن ہوا،چاہتے ہیں اپوزیشن احتساب کواصلاحات سے علیحدہ دیکھےاورانتخابی اور عدالتی اصلاحات پر بات چیت ہو
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) June 11, 2021
Meanwhile, the opposition has said that it will not allow an anti-people budget and will do everything to stop its approval. Last month, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif hosted a dinner reception for all mainstream opposition parties on the upcoming budget.
Despite the current differences between the PPP and the PML-N, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that the party will support Shehbaz on the budget.
Speaking at a press conference, Bilawal had said that PPP members would come and vote on the day of the budget, adding that it was up to Shehbaz as the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly to “do his work and stop the government’s budget”.
In a pre-budget seminar held last week, the PML-N had presented a dismal picture of the state of the economy in the country due to the “failed fiscal policies” of the PTI government. Former finance minister Ishaq Dar also stressed the need for having a “serious review” of the economic policy to bring Pakistan out of the economic ‘mess’.
