ISLAMABAD: The opposition parties on Friday criticized the government for presenting an “anti-people” budget for the fiscal year 2021 while terming the revenue and non-revenue targets “unrealistic” which would further increase financial burden on the masses.
The opposition members protested against the budget in the National Assembly while Minster for Industries Hammad Azhar unveiled a Rs 7.13 trillion financial plan for the next fiscal year, claiming that no new taxes were imposed to provide some relief to the people.
“This government has failed to impose taxes on rich and wealthy people,” Senator Mushahidullah Khan, a senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, told Arab News after the budget session. “If anything, it is trying to further squeeze the poor to increase revenue.”
He said that government employees were expecting a significant raise in their salaries and pensions keeping in view the soaring inflation and economic situation, but they were ignored.
Khan said the government was hiding behind the coronavirus outbreak in the country, but “the reality is that they destroyed the country’s economy much before the emergence of COVID-19.”
“This is an anti-people budget and we totally reject it,” he continued. “We will keep pressing the government to announce incentives for the poor before the final approval of the budget document.”
Prime Minister Imran Khan was present in the House during the budget speech while leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif, could not attend it after testing positive for COVID-19. The attendance from both the treasury and opposition benches was low to ensure social distancing and prevent spread of the virus.
The opposition members were carrying placards and kept chanting slogans against the government during the budget session.
Commenting on the budget, Pakistan Peoples Party’s senior lawmaker Syed Naveed Qamar said that the government had presented “unrealistic” budgetary targets which would ultimately burden the masses in terms of mini-budgets during the financial year.
“We were not expecting a people-friendly budget from the government keeping in view its past year’s performance,” he told Arab News, adding that the government should have raised salaries and pensions of the government employees to provide them relief in these testing times.
Qamar said that government employees would be spending at least ten percent less as compared to the previous year due to lack of increments.
He said the government had also failed to mention the development expenditures that it would carry out in coordination with the provincial governments.
“This is not a budget, but a recipe for disaster for people,” he said.
Muhammad Aslam Ghauri, deputy secretary general of the Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam (JUI-F) party, said that his political faction along with other opposition parties would give “viable proposals” to the government to provide relief to the general public.
“This budget is nothing short of a joke,” he told Arab News. “The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had made tall claims before coming into the power, but were now disappointing the public on a daily basis.”
Ghauri said the government should have reduced taxes on daily use items and increased them on luxury products to create a balance among the poor and the rich.
“We still expect it to review its monetary policies before people begin to pour out into streets,” he added.
Opposition leaders in Pakistan slam government for 'anti-people' budget
https://arab.news/9ekfb
Opposition leaders in Pakistan slam government for 'anti-people' budget
- Opposition members chanted slogans against the government during the budget session
- This budget is nothing short of joke, claim opposition leaders
Chinese group plans up to $1.3 billion investment in Pakistan’s industrial complex, says official
- Shandong Xinxu eyes $800 million for shipbuilding and $540 million for broader maritime complex
- The project aims to turn Pakistan’s Port Qasim into regional hub for heavy industry and logistics
KARACHI: China’s Shandong Xinxu Group is planning to invest as much as $1.34 billion to build an integrated maritime industrial complex (IMIC) at Pakistan’s second-largest port in southern commercial capital Karachi, a senior official familiar with the project told Arab News on Tuesday.
IMIC is the government’s flagship initiative to modernize industrial operations through upgrading port infrastructure, establishing shipbuilding and recycling facilities as well as an integrated steel mill at Port Qasim, which houses the Qasim International Container Terminal of DP World.
“They have shown interest in investing an estimated $1.34 billion overall in the IMIC project,” said a maritime affairs ministry official on condition of anonymity since the project’s modalities are still being discussed.
The planned investment, if materialized soon would augur well for Pakistan’s economy which has stabilized with the help of a $7 billion International Monetary Fund’s loan but desperately awaits dollar inflows especially on account of foreign direct investment (FDI) and exports, which according to official data, dropped 43 percent to $808 million in July-Dec.FY26 and 7 percent to $18.2 billion in July-Jan. FY26 period, respectively.
Shandong Xinxu Group Corporation Ltd. is a global manufacturer specializing in green battery manufacturing, nuclear power equipment, environmental protection products and other industrial solutions.
“The Chinese plan to invest about $800 million in shipbuilding and $540 million in the rest of the IMIC or sea-to-steel project,” said the official, referring to the government’s initiative to integrate ship recycling with domestic steel production, adding that the amount of investment was contingent upon the establishment of a 300,000-ton furnace oil plant at Port Qasim.
In Nov. 2025, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government announced new initiatives including Pakistan’s first green ship repair and recycling yard to be established under the sea-to-steel IMIC project. IMIC will also support the revival of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM).
Pakistan’s government has long been in talks with Russia for the revival of PSM that has been dormant since June 2015 due to financial losses and technical issues.
Muhammad Arshad, public relations officer at the maritime affairs ministry, said the Chinese were keen to invest in Pakistan’s port infrastructure, though he said the exact amount was not clear at the moment.
Shandong Xinxu Group, in a previous meeting with Pakistan’s maritime authorities, had estimated the project cost between €1 billion ($1.18 billion) and €2 billion ($2.37 billion), according to a ministry statement on Dec. 18.
“The Chinese group has been asked to submit a detailed proposal as soon as possible,” Arshad told Arab News when contacted.
The Chinese, once all the modalities are finalized, will build a shipbuilding and ship maintenance facility at Port Qasim and use the leftover steel from shipbuilding and recycling at PSM.
“They are expected to submit a comprehensive unsolicited feasibility study that would include financial impact assessments, structural and hydrographic analyzes and quantitative risk evaluations,” he said.
Pakistan plans to build a $100 billion blue economy by 2047, develop three new deep-sea ports and AI-enabled maritime industrial complexes, expand shipping fleet, manufacture vessels and achieve 100 percent green digital ports with multimodal connectivity under its Maritime Century (2047-2147) initiative.
Explaining the project, Arshad said one of IMIC’s core components was the revival and upgradation of Port Qasim’s iron ore and coal berth jetty, which has been abandoned for many years.
“The jetty once revived would be used for the recycling and repair of vessels, with the resulting scrap used to revive the Steel Mills,” the official said.
The IMIC project is envisaged to connect ship recycling with domestic steel production to cut the cash-strapped nation’s reliance on imported raw materials and leverage recyclable scrap.
Once approved, IMIC would rank among Pakistan’s largest recent maritime and industrial investments, turning Port Qasim into a regional hub for heavy industry and logistics.
