Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Wednesday said lower government expenditures in the outgoing fiscal year were a “response” to previous “right pushback” from tax-paying individuals.

He made the remarks during a post-budget press conference where he expanded upon the federal budget proposed yesterday for the upcoming FY25-26.

Maintaining an aggressive stance on fiscal consolidation, as required by the Int­ernational Monetary Fund (IMF), Aurangzeb yesterday still managed to offer some notional relief to the salaried class in the federal budget for FY2025-26, along with incentives for the real estate and construction sectors to revive the struggling industrial sector and stimulate economic growth.

Highlights:

Addressing a media briefing in Islamabad today, Aurangzeb acknowledged that past concerns about government expenditures not reducing were the “right pushback”.

However, in the outgoing fiscal year, the minister said the spending had gone up by “just 1.9pc”.

“We have reduced subsidies and debt-servicing costs, and increased some expenditures because this country needed those. But this is our response to those people who are paying taxes in this country that ‘why are you not bringing the government expenditures under control’,” Aurangzeb asserted.

He pointed out that whatever the government was giving was doing so “by taking loans as we start with a deficit”, adding that if the expenditures were not reduced, then the loans would keep surging.

At the outset of the press conference, the reporters voiced their concerns about not being given a technical briefing yesterday by the Federal Board of Revenue (FRB) on the Finance Bill 2025, which details the legislation for the proposed measures under the budget.

Subsequently, they walked out of the conference room in protest.

However, flanked by FBR Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial and Finance Secretary Imdadullah Bosal, Aurangzeb soon continued with his press conference in the presence of some journalists.

Concluding his address, Aurangzeb acknowledged the “worry” caused to reporters and said he “regretted if there was anything of the sort”, referring to the journalists not being briefed.

However, the minister added, he and the FBR chairman “had been appearing before you in terms of having these types of discussions”. “We will continue to accelerate this,” he affirmed, hinting at a plan of engagements with journalists every four to six weeks.

Addressing journalist Mehtab Haider, who spearheaded the journalists’ concerns, Langrial acknowledged that there used to be a “technical briefing” but this time it was decided that Aurangzeb would hold an “essential briefing”.

“Its name is technical briefing but practically, the same questions are raised during it, […] which makes the ministerial press conference slightly less meaningful.

“But if you want, we would hold a separate technical session with you,” the FBR chairman told the journalists.

On salaries and pensions for federal employees, which have been raised by 10pc and 7pc, respectively, the finance czar stressed the need for a benchmark.

“If we are saying the inflation is declining, similarly, the salary or pension has to be benchmarked with inflation. This is not just the rule in Pakistan but across the world.”

The minister also pointed out the connection between pay and inflation when........

© Dawn Business