PUNJAB’S budget for FY27 is a mix of good and bad political choices, with a cash-strapped centre tightening the fiscal noose around the provinces to claw back resources. On paper, the numbers look tidy: Rs5.9tr in outlay and a promised Rs910bn surplus. Moreover, the province’s finance minister kept repeating that nobody’s tax bill would rise. He had less to say about the nearly 40pc cut to annual development spending, which includes Rs140bn worth of projects financed by Punjab’s international........

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