Pakistan's Punjab unveils $18.9 billion budget, increases development spending by 47%
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's largest and richest Punjab province on Monday unveiled its Rs5.33 trillion [$18.9 billion] budget for the fiscal year 2025-26, increasing its development spending by 47% and refraining from imposing new taxes on the masses.
Punjab, home to more than half of Pakistan's over 240 million people, plays a dominant role in the national economy. It contributes roughly 60% to Pakistan's gross domestic product and receives the largest share of federal funds under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.
Last year, Punjab's budget for FY2024–25 was about $19.6 billion, with a development outlay of $3 billion. Punjab's budget is seen as politically significant for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which has faced tough economic and governance challenges since forming its government at the center last year.
'The total outlay for [Punjab's] 2025-2026 budget is Rs5,335 billion [$19.2 billion],' Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said while presenting the budget in the provincial assembly.
Rehman said the provincial government was presenting a 'record-breaking development budget' this time.
'For which the total amount recommended is Rs1,240 billion [$4.36 billion], which is more than 47% compared to the current financial year,' he added.
The minister said the FY26 budget did not contain any new taxes on the masses, adding that the government wanted to widen the tax net to increase revenue.
Punjab's own-source revenue is projected at Rs828.1 billion ($2.94 billion), including Rs524.7 billion ($1.86 billion) in tax receipts and Rs303.4 billion ($1.08 billion) in non-tax receipts.
According to budget documents seen by Arab News, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has set a national target of Rs14,131 billion ($50.11 billion), with Punjab's share estimated at Rs4,062.2 billion ($14.4 billion).
Rehman said the province has proposed a significant increase in education and health budgets to benefit the people of Punjab.
HEALTH, EDUCATION BUDGETS
'The total allocation for the education sector is Rs811.8 billion ($2.88 billion), which is 21% higher than last year, where development allocation stands at Rs148.5 billion ($526 million), the highest in the province's history and 127% higher than the previous year,' he said.
He said Punjab would launch new education projects while continuing existing ones, allocating Rs15 billion ($53 million) for scholarships for high-achieving students and continuing with its Rs5.9 billion ($21 million) Undergraduate Scholarship Programme.
'To address infrastructure needs, Rs40 billion ($142 million) is set aside for building classrooms, while a Rs35 billion ($124 million) Education Delivery Programme aims to enhance access and quality across Punjab,' Rehman said.
The minister said the provincial government has allocated Rs630.5 billion ($2.24 billion) for the health sector in this budget, which is 17% higher than last year.
'Of this, Rs181 billion ($641 million) is earmarked for development, reflecting a 41% increase over the previous year,' Rehman said.
The minister said Punjab had allocated Rs494 billion ($1.75 billion) for the social sector, which accounted for 40% of the development budget.
Rehman said provincial government employees' salaries would be increased by 10%, while pensions have been raised by 5% and the proposed increase in the minimum wage is from Rs37,000 ($131) to Rs40,000 ($142) per month.
The minister said that the new budget has given special priority to Pakistan's agriculture sector.
'In the next financial year, Rs123 billion ($436 million) are allocated for development in the agriculture, livestock, irrigation, and water sectors, while Rs56.2 billion ($199 million) is allocated for non-development expenses,' he said.
The provincial minister said to ensure a climate-resilient Punjab, a record Rs795 billion (approximately $2.82 billion) worth of projects were included in the budget this year, accounting for 64% of the overall development budget.
Pakistan's top revenue-generating Sindh province last Friday unveiled its Rs3.45 trillion ($12.41 billion) new budget while the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province announced a surplus budget of Rs2,119 billion ($7.63 billion) for the next year on the same day.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistan says ‘actively engaged' with UK to ensure lifting of PIA ban
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has assured Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Islamabad is 'actively engaged' with British authorities to ensure a ban on the national carrier from operating flights to the United Kingdom (UK) is lifted at the earliest, state-run media reported this week. PIA was banned by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), United Kingdom (UK) and United States US authorities after Pakistan opened an investigation into the validity of pilots' licenses following a PIA plane crash in Karachi, in May 2020, that killed 97 people. PIA resumed flights to Europe in January after EASA lifted its four-year safety ban on the airline. The national carrier has also approached UK authorities for permission to resume its services to the country. Dar, who also serves as Pakistan's foreign minister, met PIA's Chief Executive Officer Amir Hayat on Saturday to discuss matters related to the airline, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. 'On the occasion, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister said he and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are actively engaged with the UK authorities to ensure lifting of the ban at the earliest,' Radio Pakistan said. Hayat requested Dar for 'further diplomatic assistance' to ensure the resumption of PIA flights to the UK, the report said. Pakistan hopes new European routes and flying approval to the UK will boost PIA's selling potential, as Islamabad plans on privatizing the loss-making national airline. PIA, once a respected carrier in Asia, has been supported by taxpayers for decades due to political interference, corruption and inefficiencies. Its privatization has also repeatedly collapsed amid union resistance, legal hurdles and low investor appetite. Cash-strapped Pakistan has been attempting to privatize the debt-ridden PIA to raise funds as part of its efforts to reform state-owned enterprises under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program secured last year. Late last year, a deal fell through after a potential buyer reportedly offered $36 million for a 60 percent stake in the national flag carrier, a fraction of the asking price of approximately $303 million. Officials say PIA's cumulative losses alone are close to $3 billion, with the total asset valuation of the airline standing at approximately $572 million. Pakistan plans to hold the final bidding to sell the PIA by October and complete its sale by the end of this year, the country's privatization czar told Arab News this week. Last week, five consortiums submitted expressions of interest for a 51–100 percent stake in PIA after the government restructured its balance sheet to make the deal more attractive.
Arab News
8 hours ago
- Arab News
India rejects statement by Pakistan seeking to blame it for Waziristan attack
NEW DELHI: India's ministry of external affairs said on Sunday it rejects a statement by the Pakistan Army seeking to blame India for Saturday's attack in Waziristan. A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden car into a Pakistani military convoy in a town near the Afghan border, killing at least 13 soldiers, the Pakistan army said on Saturday. The convoy was attacked in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan district, the army said in a statement. 'In this tragic and barbaric incident, three innocent civilians including two children and a woman also got severely injured,' it said. Fourteen militants were killed by the army in an operation launched after the attack in the region, it said. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and termed it a 'cowardly act,' a statement from his office said. Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir said in a statement any attempt to undermine Pakistan's internal stability would be met with swift and decisive retribution. 'It was huge, a big bang,' a local administrator told Reuters, adding that residents of the town could see a large amount of smoke billowing from the scene from a great distance. One resident said that the explosion rattled the windowpanes of nearby houses, and caused some roofs to collapse. No one has so far claimed responsibility. The lawless district, which sits next to Afghanistan, has long served as a safe haven for different militant groups, who operate on both sides of the border. Islamabad says the militants run training camps in Afghanistan to launch attacks inside Pakistan, a charge Kabul denies, saying the militancy is Pakistan's domestic issue. Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella group of several Islamist militant groups, has long been waging a war against Pakistan in a bid to overthrow the government and replace it with its own Islamic system of governance. The Pakistani military, which has launched several offensives against the militants, has mostly been their prime target.
Arab News
12 hours ago
- Arab News
At least 1.2 million Afghans forced to return from Iran and Pakistan this year — UN
ISLAMABAD: At least 1.2 million Afghans have been forced to return from Iran and Pakistan this year, the UN refugee agency said Saturday, warning that repatriations on a massive scale have the potential to destabilize the fragile situation in Afghanistan. Iran and Pakistan in 2023 launched separate campaigns to expel foreigners they said were living in the country illegally. They set deadlines and threatened them with deportation if they didn't leave. The two governments deny targeting Afghans, who have fled their homeland to escape war, poverty or Taliban rule. The UN high commissioner for refugees said that of the 1.2 million returning Afghans, more than half had come from Iran following a March 20 government deadline for them to leave voluntarily or face expulsion. Iran has deported more than 366,000 Afghans this year, including refugees and people in refugee-like situations, according to the agency. Iran's 12-day war with Israel also has driven departures. The highest number of returns was on June 26, when 36,100 Afghans crossed the border in one day. 'Afghan families are being uprooted once again, arriving with scant belongings, exhausted, hungry, scared about what awaits them in a country many of them have never even set foot in,' said Arafat Jamal, the UNHCR representative in the Afghan capital, Kabul. He said women and girls are particularly worried, as they fear the restrictions on freedom of movement and basic rights such as education and employment. More than half Afghanistan relies on humanitarian assistance. But opposition to Taliban policies and widespread funding cuts are worsening the situation, with aid agencies and nongovernmental organizations cutting back on basic services like education and health care. IRAN URGES FOREIGNERS TO LEAVE QUICKLY Iran's attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, said Saturday that foreigners in the country illegally should leave as soon as possible or face prosecution, state media reported. 'Foreign nationals, especially brothers and sisters from Afghanistan whom we have hosted for years, help us [so] that illegal individuals leave Iran in the shortest period,' the official IRNA news agency quoted Azad as saying. Iranian authorities said in April that out of more than 6 million Afghans, up to 2.5 million were in the country illegally. Iran's top diplomat in Kabul, Ali Reza Bikdeli, visited the Dogharoun border crossing with Afghanistan and promised to facilitate the repatriation of Afghans, state TV reported. Iranians have complained about the increasing presence of Afghans in recent months, with some accusing them of spying for Israel since the outbreak of the war. TALIBAN PLEDGE AMNESTY Earlier this month, on the religious festival of Eid Al-Adha, the Taliban prime minister said all Afghans who fled the country after the collapse of the former Western-backed government were free to return, promising they would be safe. 'Afghans who have left the country should return to their homeland,' Mohammad Hassan Akhund said in a message on X. 'Nobody will harm them. Come back to your ancestral land and live in an atmosphere of peace.' On Saturday, a high-ranking ministerial delegation traveled to western Herat province to meet some of the Afghans returning from Iran. The officials pledged 'swift action to address the urgent needs of the returnees and ensure that essential services and support are provided to ease their reintegration,' according to a statement from the Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat on X. People get food, temporary accommodation and access to health care upon their return, said Ahmadullah Muttaqi, the director of information and culture in Herat. Everyone receives 2,000 Afghanis, or $28.50, in cash and is taken free of charge to their home provinces. 'Upon arrival, they are housed in designated camps until permanent housing is arranged, as residential townships are currently under construction in every province for them,' he told The Associated Press. Meanwhile, Pakistani authorities have set a June 30 deadline for some 1.3 million Afghans to leave. Pakistan aims to expel a total of 3 million Afghans this year.
