Punjab govt tables Rs5.3tr budget for FY26

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LAHORE: Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujghar Rehman presented a budget of Rs 5,335 billion for the fiscal year 2025-26.

Addressing the floor of the Punjab Assembly, the Finance Minister said that the present government has allocated a total of Rs 1,240 billion for the development program which is 23 % of the budget 2025-26 and the current fiscal year is more than 47 % from 2024-25, with Rs 842 billion on this count.

In the next financial year budget, he said, estimating under Account II (Food) has been reduced by 88 % (Rs 53.3 billion) compared to the current fiscal year, which is a clear evidence of the government’s best economic planning, and therefore we have managed to control the internal loans that served up to 94 %.

He said that under the social sector, health, education and other sectors have always been the top priority of the PML -N (PML -N) government, which is why a huge grant of Rs 494 billion (40 % of ADP) has been allocated for the social sector.

In his speech during the assembly meeting, during the budget, Mujtaba said that the total income reserves have been estimated at Rs 4,890.4 billion, adding that under the National Finance Commission (NFC), Punjab will receive Rs 4062.2 billion from the Federal Division’s pond, while the provincial revenue will be obtained.

He mentioned, regarding provincial receipts, the Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) has been targeted for receiving Rs 340 billion for the next financial year, the Board of Revenue 135.5 billion, and the Excise Department Department has been targeted at Rs 70 billion.

Describing the provincial budget as “tax-free, progressive and business supporters”, Mujtaba added that during the financial year 2025-26, a total of Rs 2,706.5 billion will be spent under the heads of provincial government employees’ salaries, pensions, PFC transfer and service heads. Similarly, under the head of existing capital expenditure, Rs 590.2 billion has been made part of the budget.

He said that a $ 764.2 billion fund of the Temporary PFC Award (Provincial Finance Commission) has been allocated to empower local governments, while Rs 1550 billion and Rs 20 billion respectively have been allocated as a special grant for waste management and municipal corporations.

According to the vision of Quaid -e -Azam Ali Jinnah, he said that the Punjab government has allocated a package of Rs 70 billion to provide social protection to the people.

In keeping with the financial management, he said that Rs 470 billion has been added to the budget under the agreement between the federal government and the IMF, adding that the completion of this provincial surplus is under the acquisition of FBR (Federal Board of Revenue).

Prior to the Assembly meeting, Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz approved the provincial budget.

“Despite comparatively compressed budget, ADP [Annual Development Programme] Punjab Senior Minister Maryam Aurangzeb said in an X post, “After the increase in salaries and pensions, government operational expenditures have only increased by 3 percent,” Senior Minister of Punjab, Maryam Aurangzeb, said in an X post, “After the increase in salaries and pensions, government operational costs have increased by 47 percent.

In another X post, Aurangzeb said: “Under the fearless and reformist leadership of the Chief Minister Punjab, the budget is free from the old traditions 2025-26.”

He said that the budget 2025-26 reflects a historical and strategic approval of priorities, which has allocated a total of Rs 5,335 billion of historical and highest development of Rs 1,335 billion.

The Minister said that the provincial budget is “zero tax budget, which means that no new tax has been imposed with the road map to increase the Punjab tax net and the tax rate has not been increased”.