PTI contacts PPP to skip voting for budget FY26

• Raja Pervaiz, Asad Qaiser's meeting held at Parliament House.
• PPP leader assures Qaiser to convey PTI's offer to Bilawal.
• Ex-PM confirms PPP's reservations on budget FY26.
  

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday contacted the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and conveyed that the former ruling party will support the coalition partner if it decides to boycott voting on the budget for the fiscal year 2025-26.

Former National Assembly speaker and PTI senior leader Asad Qaiser held a meeting with PPP's Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in the Parliament House today.

During the meeting, Qaiser said that they heard rumours about the Bilawal Bhutto-led party's boycott of the budget. "If the PPP is serious, then PTI would support it to boycott the budget voting," he added.

Ashraf assured Qaiser that he would present the former ruling party's offer to Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari when he reaches the parliament.

Speaking to reporters at the parliament, Ashraf confirmed that he met the PTI leader; however, he denied holding any discussion to boycott the budget.

He went on to say that his party is a coalition partner of the incumbent government, but it has some reservations and recommendations.

"Today, our parliamentary committee held a session in which recommendations were presented and participants expressed concerns on some issues."

"MNAs from Sindh and Punjab also have reservations," said the PPP lawmaker, adding that they would discuss the points of concern with the government.

In the Senate session today, PTI Senator Ali Zafar announced that his party's lawmakers would not cast their votes for the federal budget and alleged that the proposed fiscal strategies "will bring disaster to Pakistan" as they imposed "42% new taxes".

He claimed that salaries and pensions were decreased due to the imposition of taxes. Zafar also slammed the government for taxes on solar panels and the e-commerce sector.

He was of the view that an 18% sales tax would divert all businesses to the informal sector. The senator suggested bringing down the sales tax to 9% to boost economic growth.

"We reject this budget," said Zafar and added that the budget failed to give a development roadmap. He also criticised the decision to grant the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) powers to make arrests like the police force.

Last week, Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb presented the budget for the upcoming fiscal year with a total outlay of Rs17.57 trillion, setting a 4.2% GDP growth target and announcing relief measures for the salaried class while overall federal expenditure being slashed by 7%.

It projected a deficit of 3.9% of GDP against the 5.9% target for 2024-25. Inflation was projected at 7.5% and growth at 4.2%.