ISLAMABAD:
The opposition PTI on Friday rejected the federal budget for the coming financial year, terming it a pro-rich and anti-poor fiscal plan that puts the burden on ordinary citizens while extending relief to privileged sections of the society.
PTI chairman Barrister Gohar said the PML-N-led government’s fiscal plan did not provide any meaningful relief to the public. He described the budget as disappointing and said the party had no expectations from the government.
He added that there had been no notable improvement in governance over the past four years, arguing that instead of reducing spending, the government had resorted to repeated borrowing. Gohar said the government’s mismanagement and extravagance had increased, stressing that a budget should provide real relief to citizens and reduce financial hardship.
On political engagement, he said efforts were ongoing to meet with the party leadership and contacts were being made wherever there was a possibility of progress, but no positive response had been received so far. He added that the public was under severe financial pressure while the government continued to invite the opposition to engage. “PTI would not attend meetings for photo ops”. He sought serious political progress.
Separately, PTI Central Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram said the budget was in fact a typical PML-N document, claiming it reflected an “elite-friendly” approach where the poor got only “crumbs” while the wealthy received relief.
He claimed the 2026-27 budget was based on manipulation of figures and focused on harassment of honest taxpayers rather than genuine reforms. He also criticized the introduction of faceless audits, saying they were being used to target legitimate businesses.
Akram said the government had imposed taxes across multiple areas in recent budgets while continuing to manipulate the numbers, adding that the latest financial plan followed the same pattern. He claimed that the budget penalized honest taxpayers while ignoring large-scale tax evasion, describing it as misleading and anti-public.
