The development budget
During the first nine months of FY 2015-16, the Punjab government utilised only around Rs189.8 billion (51.4 percent) out of a total development outlay of Rs369.1 billion provided in the…
The budget and development
The budget is not just an accounting exercise that brings government expenditures and revenues in line with what is considered a prudent deficit target. For it to be meaningful, the…
Development, culture, patriarchy
In 2016, while working as a consultant, I was in Buner, observing the shift of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) from debit card payments to biometric payments. A long…
Budget 2026-27 as a bridge
THE federal budget for 2026-27 won’t be just another annual ritual. It will likely be the penultimate budget before Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility with the IMF concludes end-2027. If the…
Floods: budget deficit and/or mini-budget
The flood damage is rising by the day – both in terms of fatalities and financial losses (private and state owned) with the last monsoon rains forecast to end this…
Budgetary outcome in 2024-25
The detailed statistics on the fiscal operations by the federal and the provincial governments have recently been released by the Federal Ministry of Finance. The outcome of the operations has…
Budgeting on sacrifice
WE are days away from the budget now and its details are still being worked out. Here is some of what we know thus far. They are likely to announce an FBR…
On to the budget
WAR-war is over; talk-talk is happening in the subcontinent — not between the two nuclear-armed neighbours but with the world to our west. Indeed, each side has decided this is…
After the budget
The budget has been passed. The applause has faded. Once again, Pakistan resumes its uneasy journey through economic difficulty this time, with a roadmap that feels more serious than in…
Budget 2025-26: takes two to tango
Budget 2025–26 signals fiscal restraint and modest climate intent but remains, at its core, an act of improvisation rather than coordinated choreography. Touted as contractionary, the budget sets ambitious targets:…
