New FY budget of approximately Rs18,000bn to be presented in NA today

Islamabad: A budget of about Rs18,000 billion for the next fiscal year will be presented in the National Assembly today, in which about Rs2,000 billion in new taxes will be imposed.

Non-developmental expenditures in the new budget are expected to be Rs16,286 billion. The budget deficit next year is anticipated to be 5 percent of GDP, which translates to Rs6,501 billion.

It is also proposed to eliminate tax exemptions in all sectors. A tax revenue target of Rs14,131 billion and a non-tax revenue collection target of Rs5,167 billion are likely to be proposed.

The target is to achieve a total of Rs 19,298 billion in non-tax revenue.

A proposal to impose a carbon levy at the rate of 2.5 percent is also likely to be included in the budget.

The new budget proposes to allocate Rs8,207 billion for interest payments on debt and Rs2,550 billion for defense.

To generate Rs1,300 billion from the petroleum levy, it is proposed to increase the petroleum levy from Rs78 per liter to Rs 100 per liter.

The federal development budget is proposed to allocate Rs1,000 billion, which includes the N-5 highway to be built for Rs120 billion.

In addition, the development budget of state-owned enterprises is likely to be Rs355 billion.

Rs8,206 billion will be transferred to the provinces during the next fiscal year, and the size of the provincial development budget will be Rs3,300 billion.

The budget proposes a 10 percent increase in the salaries of government employees and a 2.5 percent tax reduction on all salary slabs.

A proposal to provide a 30 percent disparity allowance to employees in grades 1 to 16 is also part of the budget.

There is also a possibility of a 10 percent rise for pensioners, with Rs1,055 billion allocated for pension.

Rs1,186 billion will be allocated for subsidies in the budget.

New tax measures are expected on YouTubers, freelancers, and non-filers.

It is also reported that the government is going to tighten tax collection on retailers.

The negotiations with the IMF have been taken into account in preparing the budget, reportedly.

GST on non-filers is likely to be increased from 18 percent to 20 percent.

There will be no additional payment for purchasing petroleum products through digital payment, while an additional Rs2 per liter will have to be paid for purchasing petroleum products in cash.

It is also proposed to increase the tax rate for non-filers on cash withdrawals of more than Rs50,000 from banks from 0.6 percent to 1.2 percent.

It is proposed to allocate Rs971 billion for the ongoing expenses of the civil government.

It is pertinent to note that the budget session of the National Assembly under the chairmanship of Speaker Ayaz Sadiq will be held at 5:00pm today.

The four-point agenda of the National Assembly session has been released. Recitation, Hadith, Naat Rasool Maqbool ﷺ, and the national anthem are the first part of the agenda.

After the national anthem, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb will present the federal budget with the permission of the Speaker.

The Finance Minister will present other documents, including revenue, in the National Assembly with the permission of Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.

The Finance Minister will also present the Finance Bill 2025 in the National Assembly.