ISLAMABAD: The finance minister will present the Pakistan Economic Survey (PES) FY2025-26 today, Thursday, a senior finance official said as Islamabad gears up to present the federal budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
The PES is an annual government document that highlights the performance of key government sectors in the outgoing fiscal year.
It is usually issued a day before the federal budget, which the government said will be released this year on Jun. 12.
“Prior to the Budget presentation, the Pakistan Economic Survey FY 2025-26 will be launched by the Federal Minister for Finance & Revenue,” Khurram Schehzad, adviser to the finance minister, wrote on Wednesday.
The date Schehzad provided was Jun. 11, adding that Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb will unveil the PES at the Pakistan Secretariat in Islamabad at 2:20 p.m.
Pakistan’s government has postponed the budget twice as it continues consultations with coalition partners over key decisions, Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry told Arab News on Tuesday.
The government was supposed to release the budget on Jun. 5, before it moved it to Jun. 10. The budget was later shifted to Jun. 12, as the government seeks to build consensus on a budget expected to be shaped by revenue targets and fiscal reforms linked to Pakistan’s $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.
Political leaders involved in budget consultations point to disagreements over taxation, public welfare spending and the distribution of resources between the federal government and Pakistan’s four provinces.
A senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a key ally in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ruling coalition, said the party wanted a “people-friendly” budget and opposed any move that could reduce provincial funding under the National Finance Commission (NFC) award.
The NFC is the constitutional mechanism through which the federal government distributes tax revenues among Pakistan’s provinces. The formula is politically sensitive because provincial governments rely heavily on these transfers to fund services such as education, health care and infrastructure.
Pakistan seeks to maintain fiscal discipline under its IMF program while also responding to demands for tax relief and increased social spending. According to officials, the IMF has asked Pakistan to introduce at least Rs430 billion ($1.5 billion) in additional fiscal measures in the upcoming budget, alongside a nearly matching contribution from the provinces.
