Rs48bn | Pakistan

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Friday presented the provincial budget for the fiscal year 2026-27. The budget outlay is Rs2.17 trillion, with an estimated fiscal deficit of Rs48 billion, according to the budget documents. At the outset of his budget speech, he said all parliamentarians of the PTI from the provincial assembly had “unanimously decided” to present the budget. Earlier, the presentation of the KP budget remained doubtful as the provincial government reportedly linked it to a meeting with incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan. In his speech, Afridi also announced that the budget he was presenting had a deficit of Rs48bn. “The KP government will not seek a loan of Rs48bn from anyone,” he said, adding that “we will provide this amount to the people of KP from our own resources”. Moreover, he said the budget would be in accordance with the Federal Board of Revenue’s tax collection target of Rs15.2 trillion. “There will be no grants for the Centre in this budget,” he added. Here, he w...