Budget 2025-26: Key Features

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday presented a Rs17.573 trillion growth-oriented federal budget for the fiscal year 2025-26.

Presenting the federal budget 2025-26 in the National Assembly, the finance minister said the budget for the upcoming fiscal year was the beginning of the strategy, especially chalked out to promote a competitive economy.

“It will help increase foreign exchange reserves, reduce the fiscal payment imbalances, thus promoting the overall economic productivity,” he said.

Here are key features of Pakistan’s national budget for the fiscal year 2025-26:

1.  Economic growth rate in the fiscal year 2025-26 is likely to remain 4.2 percent. Inflation is like to remain around 7.5 percent. Budget deficit will be 3.9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and primary surplus will be 2.4 percent of the GDP.

2.  The Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) is expected to collect Rs14,131 billion in receivables, which is 18.7 percent higher than the ongoing fiscal year. Provinces’ share in the federal receivables will be Rs8,206 billion.

3.  The federal non-tax revenue target has been set at Rs5,147 billion.

4.  Federal government’s income will be Rs17,573 billion.

5.  The estimated expenditure of the federal government will be Rs17,573 billion and Rs8,207 billion of this amount will be allocated for markup payment.

6.  The estimated ongoing expenditure of the federal government is Rs16,286 billion.

7.  A budget of Rs1,000 billion has been allocated for the public sector development programme of the federal government.

8.  An amount of Rs2,550 billion has been earmarked for defence. Rs971 billion are being allocated for the civil administration’s expenditure and Rs1,055 billion has been reserved for the pension expenditure. An amount of Rs1,186 billion has been allocated for subsidy in the power and other sectors.

9.  An amount of Rs1,928 has been allocated for grants, which will be spent in the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and the merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

10.  An allocation of Rs16 billion has been proposed for the BISP in the next fiscal year that is 21 percent higher than the ongoing fiscal year.

11.  There is a proposal to allocated Rs140 billion for Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Rs80 billion for Gilgit-Baltistan, Rs80 billion for the merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Rs18 billion for Balochistan from the ongoing expenditure.