As the budget nears amidst India’s continued abeyance regarding water-sharing under the Indus Water Treaty, it seems evident that Pakistan must remain on guard lest the present somewhat calm environment worsen again.

Maintaining military readiness against external threats while countering foreign-sponsored terrorism requires substantial economic resources. The government has already sanctioned an 18 per cent increase in defence expenditure — a figure that may grow further depending on domestic security challenges and potential Indian aggression.

These additional allocations will likely come at the expense of development spending, potentially compromising Pakistan’s medium-to-long-term economic stability. This underscores the urgent need to consolidate recent macroeconomic gains and accelerate structural reforms for sustainable resilience.

Pakistan’s recent macroeconomic improvements — declining inflation, a current account surplus, and growing tax revenues — present a deceptively positive picture. While these indicators suggest stability, they mask deeper structural weaknesses that threaten long-term sustainability. The falling inflation rate owes more to sluggish economic growth than effective monetary policy, revealing an economy operating below its potential.

The current approach of relying on temporary measures and external financial support merely postpones the........

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