President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday signed the Finance (Supplementary) Bill, 2023, generally known as the mini-budget, which was sent to the President Secretariat by the Prime Minister Secretariat two days after it was passed by the National Assembly.
“The president gave the approval to the bill in accordance with Article 75 of the Constitution,” the media wing of the President House said in a statement.
Under Article 75 (1), the president has no power to reject or object to the finance bill, which is considered to be a money bill as per the Constitution.
The article reads “When a Bill is presented to the President for assent, the President shall, within [ten] days,– (a) assent to the Bill; or (b) in the case of a Bill other than a Money Bill, return the Bill to the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) with a message requesting that the Bill or any specified provision thereof, be reconsidered and that any amendment specified in the message be considered”.
With the implementation of all major prior actions, Pakistan is eyeing a staff-level agreement with the IMF this week which will also pave the way for much-awaited credit flows from other bilateral and multilateral lenders.
