The federal government Sunday joined heads with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to mull over the budget for next fiscal year 2024-25.
The huddle, attended by PPP’s Raja Pervez Ashraf, Cheif Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah, Sherry Rehman and Naveed Qamar along with Deputy PM Ishaq Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Adviser to PM on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Information Minister Ataullah Tarar also mulled over the prevailing political situation in the country.
The meeting comes as the PM Shehbaz-led Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government will need the PPP’s support to pass the budget as it lacks the required numbers in the National Assembly to do so on its own.
The two parties, following the February 8 polls, agreed to join hands with the PPP supporting the PML-N in the election of Shehbaz as the country’s premier in exchange for various constitutional posts such as Senate Chairman, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab governors etc.
The passing of the FY2024-25 budget holds significance as the country, in April, made a formal request to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for seeking the next bailout package in the range of $6 to $8 billion under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). “In the budget 2024-25, the government will have to demonstrate its ability to raise the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) revenue, […] the government will have to hike electricity and gas tariffs in coming July and August 2024 to strike a deal with the IMF,” top official sources confirmed to the publication.
Therefore, the upcoming budget for 2024-25 will become a test case for the incumbent regime to demonstrate its ability to deliver on the IMF’s stringent conditions.
