- No additional taxes; Revenue burning thanks to the application.
- Relief intended for low -income and employee people.
- Climate samples are supervised as durability, not income tools.
Islamabad: The Minister of Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb qualified the federal budget of 2025-201026 A “strategic document”, claiming that the government favors structural reforms, application measures and rescue for low-income groups in order to ensure fair budgetary growth.
Finmin Aurangzeb presented the federal budget for the financial year 2025-2026 with a total control of 17.57 billions of rupees, setting a target of growth of GDP of 4.2% and announcing relief measures for the wage class, while overall federal expenses have been reduced by 7%.
Presenting the Federal Budget 2025-26 at the National Assembly, the Minister of Finance stressed that the budget for the next fiscal year was the start of the strategy, in particular the promotion of a competitive economy.
“This will help increase exchange reserves, reduce budgetary payment imbalances, promoting overall economic productivity,” he said.
Speaking on Geo News “AAJ Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath” program, the Minister of Finance said that the budget had been designed with three key objectives – structural reforms, budget signaling and improved application.
He described reforms as the “moment of East Asia” in Pakistan, stressing that pricing restructuring is essential to make local industry competitive, stimulate exports and correct anti-export biases which has long tormented the economy.
Aurangzeb explained that the government was aimed at sending a clear signal to the future orientation of tax policy. Since he assumed his duties, he said, no tax that had been increased had been reduced, and this perception had to change.
The budget, he argued, indicates that the government is now determined to create stability, transparency and predictability in the tax framework.
He stressed that targeted relief has been extended to the salaried class, in particular those of low -income tiles.
An supplement, he said, had only been imposed on the people earning more than 10 million rupees per year. “You can impose an overload of 2% or 5% instead of 10%, but these decisions are compromises. We have tried to relieve as much as possible in lower income groups in the available budgetary space,” he noted.
The Minister has categorically excluded the introduction of any new tax, declaring that the country must now rely on the application to increase income and go to the target of a tax / GDP ratio of 13.5%.
He said that the application will play a central role in the leak branch, the resolution of tax litigation and the widening of the net, especially in the retail and wholesale sectors. He revealed that the government had already collected 390 billion rupees through application measures, an initially doubted feat of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“A projection of income linked to the almost similar application was made for the next exercise, supported by the history of the government,” he added.
On the spending side, the Minister of Finance said that significant austerity measures had been taken. “The subsidies have been reduced, while subsidies as part of the Benazir income support Program (BISP) have been improved to protect vulnerable government’s operational costs.
He also discussed the government’s decision to increase public sector wages by 10%, a figure in particular lower than the 20 to 25% increase last year. He said that the increase was in accordance with the average title and inflation and that the final decision was made by the firm after examining several proposals.
He added that a deliberate effort was made to expand the differential in favor of lower salary media to provide more significant relief at the bottom.
Recognizing the government’s limited budgetary space, the Minister of Finance said that efforts had been made to amortize the impact on the most vulnerable while exhorting higher income groups to understand and accept the need for short -term sacrifices. “This pain should be managed. Our work is to treat where the pain is the greatest … We must recognize the pain of the upper segments and point out that we will move in the same direction,” he added.
He noted that currently, an employee is required to fill out a tax form with 800 columns, even if their income is deposited directly in their accounts and taxes are automatically deducted.
“Why should they go through this heavy process?” He asked, announcing that the government is working on reducing the form to a simplified version at 9 columns. This new form will cover wealth, income and tax and will aim to be filled automatically.
“The objective is that 70 to 80% of the salaried class can produce taxes by themselves, without needing the help of lawyers or tax consultants,” he said.
He recognized a common feeling: “People say to me – Take taxes from us, but do not give us back to the FBR.” He added that the credibility and confidence of the tax collection authority should be restored. In accordance with the Directive of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, efforts are underway to achieve this, automation and digitization being key priorities.
Speaking on the issue of non-selectors, the Minister of Finance noted that Pakistan could be the only country in the world with a legal category for non-sequences. As part of the next legislation, the government intends to eliminate the distinction between files and non-profiles, moving rather to an “eligible” category unified as part of the money bill.
Commenting on the deduction of oil development (PDL), he said that it should not be considered a measure generating income. Instead, it is linked to climate resilience and the broader program of climate change. “A third of the 13 IMF reform pillars and the Country partnership framework focus on climate change,” he said.
He also mentioned a new carbon tax, which is intended to discourage the use of fossil fuels and to promote a transition to electric vehicles and renewable energy sources. “Once again, it is not necessarily a measurement of income but a step towards sustainable environmental policy,” he added.
During the NFC Prize, Aurangzeb said that the National Fiscal Act had already been signed by the provinces and was built around three key components: income, expenses and governance. He confirmed that the government had asked for official appointments from the provinces of the NFC Commission.
A meeting was summoned by the Prime Minister to discuss the possible revisions of the NFC price. Aurangzeb stressed that the sustainability of the Pakistani economy depends on the resolution of two critical problems – climate change and the population. “If we want to achieve sustainable growth, we have to face these two fundamental challenges,” he concluded.