ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will present the financial year 2024/25 annual budget on June 10, two government sources said on Friday, ahead of seeking a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan.
The budget was originally due to be presented on June 7 but was delayed because of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Beijing from June 4 to June 8, said the two sources, a top official at the finance ministry and an official close to the prime minister.
They spoke on condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to disclose the information.
The information ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Finance Minister Muhammad Auragzeb, who will be accompanying Sharif to Beijing, will present the budget, which the finance ministry official said would be one of the most crucial ahead of a new loan from the IMF.
An IMF mission held two weeks of technical and policy level talks with Pakistani officials before it left last week to discuss fiscal consolidation measures to lay the groundwork for the new loan.
The talks made significant progress toward reaching a staff-level agreement for an extended fund facility, the IMF said after concluding the talks.
The IMF had opened discussions on the new loan program after Islamabad completed a short-term $3 billion program, which had helped stave off a sovereign debt default last summer.
Pakistan is likely to seek at least $6 billion under the new program and request additional financing from the IMF under the Resilience and Sustainability Trust.
Pakistan’s federal budget to be presented on June 10
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Pakistan’s federal budget to be presented on June 10
- The budget was originally due to be presented on June 7 but was delayed because of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Beijing on June 4-8
- Finance Minister Muhammad Auragzeb will present the budget, which official says will be one of the most crucial ahead of a new loan from the IMF
Security forces kill four militants in Pakistan’s volatile southwest, military says
- Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency
- The Balochistan government has recently established a threat assessment center to strengthen early warning, prevent ‘terrorism’ incidents
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces gunned down four militants in an intelligence-based operation in the southwestern Balochistan province, the military said on Tuesday.
The operation was conducted in Balochistan’s Kalat district on reports about the presence of militants, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
The “Indian-sponsored militants” were killed in an exchange of fire during the operation, while weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the deceased, who remained actively involved in numerous militant activities.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored terrorist found in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement.
There was no immediate response from New Delhi to the statement.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency involving Baloch separatist groups, including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF).
Pakistan accuses India of supporting these separatist militant groups and describes them as “Fitna Al-Hindustan.” New Delhi denies the allegation.
The government in Balochistan has also established a state-of-the-art threat assessment center to strengthen early warning and prevention against “terrorism” incidents, a senior official said this week.
“Information that was once scattered is now shared and acted upon in time, allowing the state to move from reacting after incidents to preventing them before they occur,” Balochistan Additional Chief Secretary Hamza Shafqaat wrote on X.
The development follows a steep rise in militancy-related deaths in Pakistan in 2025. According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) last month, combat-related deaths in 2025 rose 73 percent to 3,387.
These included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees, the think tank said.
