ISLAMABAD:
The National Assembly witnessed a heated exchange on Sunday as Treasury and opposition lawmakers faced off, with the government defending the federal budget as a road map for economic recovery and the opposition dismissing it as an IMF-dictated document.
Opening the government’s defense of the budget in the House, Federal Minister for Information and Radio Attaullah Tarar said the budget had provided significant relief to wage earners and should be recognized by the opposition rather than criticized for political reasons.
Tarar said that history would remember the moment when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chose to prioritize the state over politics during one of the country’s toughest economic periods.
“There was a time when people were betting on Pakistan’s default. The prime minister stood firm and said he would save the state regardless of the political cost,” Tarar said.
He maintained that the government inherited an economy on the brink of collapse and had succeeded in restoring stability through difficult decisions.
According to the minister, white-collar workers had received significant relief in the budget, with no income tax on salaries up to Rs 50,000. per month and a tax rate of one percent on monthly incomes between Rs 50,000 and Rs 100,000.
He said the government had responded to demands regarding tax plans and had tried to ease the burden on taxpayers. Tarar also accused the opposition of creating an atmosphere of confrontation in the House, recalling scenes in previous years where documents were torn and books burned on assembly tables.
“The opposition should appreciate positive measures when they are taken,” he said.
Defending the government’s economic policy, Tarar said reforms introduced in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) would bring long-term benefits to citizens and establish a fairer tax system.
“The biggest injustice in the past was that those who paid tax bore the burden of those who did not,” he said, adding that nearly 3.6 million retailers remained outside the tax net for years.
He highlighted the digitization of FBR operations and said that international organizations including the Gates Foundation had supported reform efforts. He argued that engagement with the International Monetary Fund had helped prevent economic collapse and restore confidence in the economy.
“There was a time when the exchange rate fluctuated wildly and companies could not open letters of credit. Inflation had reached 38 percent. Today, stability has returned and inflation has fallen significantly,” he said.
Tarar also credited state institutions and the economic team led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for improving economic indicators. He said foreign reserves had reached $17.2 billion and interest rates had fallen significantly from previous highs.
He claimed that enforcement measures initiated by the Finance Ministry and the FBR had generated an additional Rs800 billion in revenue during the previous financial year.
He further pointed to relief measures for the housing sector, including tax breaks for small residential plots and houses and the continuation of affordable housing initiatives where loans of up to Rs 10 million will be available to deserving families.
However, the opposition rejected the government’s narrative and questioned its claims of economic improvement. Former National Assembly Speaker and PTI leader Asad Qaiser described the budget as an IMF budget and accused the government of misrepresenting facts.
During the debate, Qaiser said the government’s demands for relief were disconnected from the realities facing citizens. “90 multinational companies have left Pakistan. Unemployment has increased. Tell us what relief has actually been provided to the people,” he said.
Qaiser argued that despite the government’s repeated claims of economic recovery, ordinary Pakistanis continued to struggle with rising costs and declining opportunities. He challenged the Treasury to identify a single major sector that had received meaningful relief under the budget.
The PTI leader also rejected allegations that his party had acted against national interests and defended the PTI’s stance on judicial independence and democratic governance.
“We have always stood up for Pakistan and presented our point of view honestly,” he said.
Qaiser called for a comparison of borrowing under successive governments and questioned the effectiveness of the government’s economic policies. Highlighting the plight of farmers, he claimed that wheat growers in Punjab suffered losses of Rs 2.2 trillion due to government policies.
“The farmer has been devastated. The government must explain how much new investment it has brought into the country and what concrete steps it has taken to provide real relief,” he said.
The PTI leader asserted that Pakistan’s economic challenges could only be resolved through transparent policy-making and political stability.
The exchange sparked disruptions from both sides of the aisle, with lawmakers engaged in heated arguments about economic performance, taxation and governance.
Union Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal also participated in the debate and accused the PTI government of undermining democratic norms during its tenure.
In a direct response to Qaiser’s remarks, Ahsan Iqbal said discussions on the budget should be based on facts rather than political misrepresentation.
He claimed that opposition parliamentarians under the PTI government had struggled to secure production orders for detained lawmakers and accused the previous administration of victimizing political opponents through politically motivated cases.
The minister also highlighted development projects undertaken in Swabi, Qaiser’s constituency, including the establishment of a university, the foundation stone of which he said he had personally laid.
Lahore press conference
Addressing a press conference in Lahore, senior PTI leader Sardar Latif Khosa described the financial plan as an IMF-driven, elite-centric budget that would increase hardship for citizens already struggling with inflation and poverty.
Khosa questioned the government’s plan to raise FBR revenues to Rs15.264 trillion in the next fiscal year, arguing that the ambitious target would eventually translate into additional taxes and increased pressure on ordinary Pakistanis.
