Parliamentary affairs minister says budget to be presented on June 10

The presentation of the federal budget for the next fiscal year (FY2026-27) has been pushed to June 10, according to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry.

His remarks come after several media outlets reported on Tuesday that the budget would not be presented on June 5, for which sessions of both houses of Parliament were summoned.

Asked about the reason for postponing the budget presentation during Samaa TV’s ‘Nadeem Malik Live’ programme on Tuesday night, Chaudhry said, “The initial proposal for the budget was June 5, [but] now, the budget will be released on June 10, God willing.”

Asked for a confirmation, the minister reiterated that the new date for the budget announcement was June 10 (Wednesday).

Elaborating on the reason for the delay, Chaudhry stressed that one of the two main steps in the budget process was “convincing the allies” in the ruling coalition.

However, he played down the impression of any rifts between the PML-N and the PPP, terming the latter’s chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari a “very good ally of ours”.

The minister also refuted reports of the government planning to pass additional legislation that would impact the upcoming federal budget.

“There is not even one per cent truth in this. This is a rumour. No legislation is taking place before the budget,” he declared, reiterating that the budget presentation was delayed for consultations between the allies.

The National Economic Council (NEC) is set to meet today to formally approve the macroeconomic framework for FY2026-27 cleared on Monday by the Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC).

Under the framework, the government has set an economic growth target of four per cent — up from the 3.7pc growth rate recorded this year — and inflation at 8.2pc for FY2026-27.

The upcoming budget is expected to be formulated under the tight oversight of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which last month discussed the “budget strategy” with authorities during its visit to Pakistan.

Subsequently, the government has trimmed allocations for most sectors in the next federal development programme to create additional fiscal space for the PML-N’s trademark national highways, a new Rs87 billion share for coalition partners and a Rs70bn allocation for ruling party lawmakers’ schemes.