Overview
- The National Assembly approved the Finance Bill for 2026–27 on Tuesday after rejecting opposition amendments, and PTI and allied lawmakers staged a walkout and formally rejected the bill as anti-people.
- The budget sets an FBR tax target of about Rs15.26 trillion, projects non-tax receipts near Rs5.3 trillion, caps the fiscal deficit at roughly Rs5.22 trillion (3.6% of GDP), and allocates about Rs3 trillion for defence.
- Key measures in the bill include a 7 percent rise in pays and pensions, revised income-tax slabs and targeted tax relief for salaried workers plus construction and IT sectors, with many changes scheduled to start on July 1.
- Provincial budget debates in Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continued as tense multi-day sessions where lawmakers pressed the federal share of resources, raised Karachi and South Punjab grievances, and demanded independent probes into policing incidents including the Chakwal child killing.
- The vote clears IMF-linked targets and near-term spending plans but leaves political friction high, which could affect implementation of revenue measures, provincial transfers and oversight of policing and development projects in the coming weeks.