The National Assembly on Sunday unanimously approved Rs. 3 trillion for the armed forces as lawmakers cleared 125 demands for grants for the 2026-27 fiscal year, moving the government a step closer to the passage of the Rs. 18.77 trillion federal budget.
The lower house is scheduled to pass the budget on Tuesday, June 23, while supplementary grants will be taken up on June 24.
The approved demands cover spending for ministries, divisions, and government departments. No cut motions were moved against the defence allocation, allowing it to sail through without resistance.
The Assembly also approved Rs. 661.27 billion for the energy sector, including Rs. 578.84 billion for the Power Division and Rs. 1.11 billion for the Petroleum Division. In addition, lawmakers cleared Rs. 76.61 billion in external development loans and advances for the Power Division.
Other major allocations included Rs. 1,162 billion for pensions, Rs. 2,504 billion for grants and subsidies, Rs. 85.6 billion for the Federal Board of Revenue, and Rs. 231.08 billion for other development expenditures.
Funding was also approved for a wide range of institutions and departments, including the Cabinet Division, Prime Minister’s Office, National Disaster Management Authority, Special Technology Zone Authority, Board of Investment, Higher Education Commission, National Assembly, Senate, and ministries dealing with climate change, commerce, communications, information technology, health, railways, science and technology, and water resources.
During the debate, Power Minister Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari defended the government’s performance in the energy sector, saying the fiscal burden had fallen from Rs. 1,287 billion in FY25 to Rs. 893 billion and was projected to decline further to Rs. 700 billion.
He said circular debt had been reduced by Rs. 780 billion from Rs. 2.4 trillion, while losses at power distribution companies had dropped from Rs. 591 billion to Rs. 335 billion.
Leghari also said revised agreements with Independent Power Producers would save Rs. 3.5 trillion in future liabilities. He added that 76 percent of electricity generation now comes from indigenous sources and that a Rs. 50 billion programme had been launched to eliminate economic load shedding by June next year.
Wrapping up the debate, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb expressed confidence that the government would meet its revenue targets in the next fiscal year.
He said no new taxes had been imposed and that Rs. 450 billion had been recovered through litigation. Aurangzeb also pointed to improvements in macroeconomic indicators, including economic growth of 3.7 percent, historically high primary surpluses, and current account surpluses in both the current and previous fiscal years.
Opposition lawmakers, however, criticised the budget, saying it offered little relief to ordinary citizens. They argued that poverty had worsened, questioned the effectiveness of reforms at the Federal Board of Revenue, and accused the government of placing a heavier burden on existing taxpayers instead of broadening the tax base.
