pakistan 
All eyes are set on the National Assembly today (Friday) as the federal budget for the financial year 2021-22 will be laid forth in the lower house of parliament.
Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin will present the PTI-led government’s budget as the session is set to commence at 4:00 pm.
The government has aimed at moving towards a growth trajectory from stabilization. It has ensured direct interventions for giving relief to 4 to 6 million poor people. The budget revolves around debt servicing, defence and development.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, on Wednesday, said that all of the economic indicators were positive and the country, after a long time, was moving towards economic stability.
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“The country’s institutions and people have complete faith in Prime Minister Imran Khan as he has ensured economic and political stability,” he said. The minister has also urged the opposition to treat reforms and accountability separately and engage in talks on judicial and electoral reforms.
It is pertinent to mention that if the IMF does not feel content with the upcoming budget, then the current programme may land in a suspension mode. The government is set to increase the pensions and salaries of public sector employees. The government will grant another ad hoc allowance to federal secretariat employees of 10 to 12.5 per cent in the coming budget.
The government is also expected to announce its plan to kick-start defined contributory pension for newcomers into the public sector but it will require changes in rules of business.
Alarmingly, the resource envelope is heftily eaten away after paying resources to the provinces as per the NFC mechanism and meeting the debt servicing obligation. All remaining expenditures obligations, which includes a large portion of the development, defence, running of government affairs as well as provisions of subsidies, are to be met by obtaining foreign and domestic loans.
