FY2026-27 | Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Thursday adopted 123 recommendations regarding the federal budget for FY2026-27, seeking an increase in the income tax exemption threshold for low-income earners, a reduction in electricity bills and increased taxes on luxury assets. A motion for this purpose was moved by Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue Chairperson Saleem Mandviwalla. The standing committee finalised the recommendations earlier in the day. The report was then laid before the Senate for adoption and would now be transmitted to the National Assembly (NA), as per the Constitution. The NA will take up the recommendations before the final vote on the budget. However, these recommendations are non-binding. Senate’s recommendations include: Increase in the income tax exemption threshold for low-income earners Reduction in tax rates for salaried individuals affected by inflation Rationalisation of 7.5 per cent to 8pc income tax deducted at source to function as simplified final tax regime Expansion of targete...

ISLAMABAD: PTI, the main opposition party in the National Assembly, on Friday rejected the federal budget for FY2026-27, terming it a “refined exercise in elite self-preservation”. In an NA session earlier today, the federal government unveiled a Rs18.8 trillion budget for the upcoming fiscal year. In a statement, PTI Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram said that even the Pakistan Economic Survey released on Thursday showed that the country had been facing a continued decline across sectors compared with the PTI’s tenure. While commenting on the budget, he stated that the government had projected a growth rate of 3.7 per cent as proof of economic resurgence. He noted that the previous administration, despite a global pandemic that paralysed economies worldwide, had recorded growth of nearly 6pc in its final year, while also strengthening the current account and remittances. “The present government, with characteristic modesty, treats its modest achievement as a historic breakthrough, while relying heavil...

Salient Features • GDP growth target set at 4pc; average inflation projected at 8.2pc • Income tax cut for those earning above Rs183,000 per month • Withholding tax on foreign debit/credit card transactions slashed from 5pc to 0.5pc • Taxes on sanitary pads, contraceptives completely withdrawn • Final Tax Regime for IT, freelance exporters extended for three years until FY30 • 7pc raise in salaries and pensions of govt employees; 10pc increase in minimum wage proposed • BISP budget raised 17pc to Rs838bn; coverage to expand to 12m families • Rs71bn allocated for PM’s Apna Ghar housing scheme with 5pc mortgage facility • National Artificial Intelligence Ecosystem Development Programme listed as a flagship $1bn initiative. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb presented the FY2026-27 budget in the National Assembly (NA) on Friday, during a session that began two hours late and was marred by loud protests from the opposition. Aurangzeb prefaced the numbers with a note of thanks to leaders of the coalition parties ...