THE federal budget for the financial year 2026-27, which was to be presented in the National Assembly on 05 June, stands postponed and according to reports it can now be announced either on June 10 or 12.
.There was no official explanation of the development despite the fact that the sessions of the two Houses of Parliament were already convened for Friday for presentation of the budget.
Technically speaking, readjustment of the dates for presentation of national or provincial budgets is not an extraordinary development as these are required to be approved by the respective assemblies by 30 June to get mandatory legal authorization for taxation and expenditure. The reported new dates will make no difference as the Government will still have ample time to get the budgetary proposals approved by the National Assembly. However, the delay assumes significance as it will cause a squeeze in the schedule for passage of the budget affording less time to parliamentarians to scrutinize voluminous documents, assess their impact and make meaningful contribution to improve proposals. Elected representatives are already complaining that they are not adequately being consulted during budget preparations and a short time for discussions will strengthen the impression the lawmakers are being used as a rubber stamp for approval of a document prepared somewhere else. Apart from this, media reports attribute the delay to several factors including differences with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), provinces and coalition partners as well as GB elections slated for 07 June. The IMF is reportedly tough on the issue of revenue collection target of Rs 15,264 billion, which will be a Herculean task going by the fact that the FBR could not realize the target for the outgoing financial year that had to be revised downward from Rs 13,979 billion to Rs 13,428 billion. A bigger target for the next year could mean additional burden on the common man, who is already crying hard under the pressure of petroleum levy and rising electricity and gas tariffs. At a time when there is growing realization that allocations for the BISP have surpassed the development budget, it is strange that the provinces are neither ready to make their contribution to the programme nor to efforts aimed at boosting national defence and security despite receiving huge sums under the NFC. The opposition of the PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to the proposal of devolving the BISP to provinces is yet another indication that the party is not willing to shoulder national responsibilities. The attitude of the provinces and the coalition partners is strengthening the case for 28th Amendment in the Constitution.
