Islamabad:

On Friday, the government decided to continue with its plan to present a full financial year 2025-26 budget in the midst of a proposal for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to reveal a short-term budget and also get provincial contributions to meet increased defense spending.

Participants in a budget preparation meeting on Friday also called on the government to allocate significant funds to national defense and added to the implementation of the Diamer-Basha Dam citing India’s steps to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in monkey.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister also asked the Federal Board of Revenue to tax income from the Islamabad Club, which is the recreational site of the country’s bureaucrats, foreign diplomats and richest communities.

The premiere was chairman of the meeting between his cabinet ministers and the top business leaders in the country to discuss the budget 2025-26 to be revealed in the first week of June.

There was a proposal at the meeting that the government, due to the prevailing tensions with India, should give maximum possible money to the defense and also consider the possibility of giving a shorter budget, according to several participants at the meeting.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif did not immediately shared his mind about the proposal. The constitution provides a space to give a four-month budget. But an official of the Ministry of Finance said the government’s plan to present the entire financial year 2025-26 budget remained intact.

The Ministry of Finance has insured fully providing the resources to deal with the Indian -created conflict situation and has proposed at least 18% increase in the allocation for the next financial year in this year’s expenses.

There was also a proposal at the meeting that the government should freeze the next financial year’s development budget at this year’s actual expenses, which may not cross RS600 billion due to low expenses so far.

The sources said that some cabinet members also suggested to give maximum money to finish the diamer-basha dam, so the reservoir is completed earlier to store water.

Participants urged to build adequate currency reserves to meet any unexpected import needs in the tension times.

One of Pakistan’s richest persons suggested the prime minister to reduce the government’s bloated size. Participants in the private sector also asked the Prime Minister to reduce the tax on textile exports and also suspend export development collected from exporters.

One of the participants urged the government to ban financial transactions from non-file, including the ban on trade in grain of them.

An official press release emphasized that the Prime Minister said that giving relief to the ordinary man in the upcoming budget was the government’s priority, and all-out resources will be used to reduce the financial difficulties of the poor and the middle class.

The Prime Minister instructed the upcoming budget to be prepared with a focus on sustainable export -driven growth and consider the projects to promote industries and increase production. The budget should also focus extensively on the creation of jobs, agriculture, information technology, small and medium -sized businesses and the housing sector, Sharif said.