It has taken me some time to reflect on this latest 2026-27 Federal Budget announcement, as I could not really grasp what the government’s vision and strategy is behind this outlay, or what exactly it is trying to achieve, or, for that matter, what its goals are for the next year. If it is rationalising taxation, then clearly the steps are not enough and, in any case, will be meaningless without purposeful reforms in the FBR. If it is simply adhering to IMF dictates, then one can say on good account that more demands and discussions are to follow as the year progresses. If it is to stop the ongoing rapid deindustrialisation in the country, then this budget is likely to instead exacerbate it. If it is to discourage the undocumented sector or perhaps to encourage it to enter the foray of the documented one, then the outgoing message is literally the reverse. If it is to spur growth, then it fails to identify what its drivers would be. If it is to contain inflation, then the government’s allocations simply spill the beans, since the sheer distribution of funds is an admission that the budget is going to be inflationary. If it is to curtail the government and its growing footprint on the economy, it is in fact messaging the very opposite. And if it is to go down the route of export-led growth, then again the meagre steps are neither adequate nor capable of making any tangible difference in the foreseeable future. Regardless of what the government has to say, the reality is that Pakistan’s underlying economy is tanking: debt is going up, growth is non-existent, an air of discontent among the youth is obvious, the country is........

© The Nation