Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday gave his assent to the government’s tax-heavy Finance Bill 2024, which drew sharp criticism from the Opposition which labelled it as an IMF-driven document that was harmful to the public for the new fiscal year, according to a media report.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb presented the budget in the National Assembly on June 12, drawing sharp criticism from the opposition parties, especially jailed former premier Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), as well as coalition ally Pakistan Peoples Party led by former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
On Friday, Parliament passed the Pakistani Rs 18,877 billion budget for the fiscal year 2024-25, detailing the expenditures and income of the government.
The Opposition parties, mainly parliamentarians backed by currently incarcerated former premier Khan, had rejected the budget, saying it would be highly inflationary.
During the National Assembly session, opposition lawmakers criticised the budget, asserting that it was now an open secret that the document was dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Leader of the Opposition Omar Ayub Khan had denounced the budget as “economic terrorism against the people”.
Earlier this week, the PPP — which had initially boycotted the debate over the budget — decided that it would vote for the finance bill despite certain reservations.
On Friday, the National Assembly passed the budget with some amendments. The motion was preceded by fiery speeches from the opposition, who described the budget as unrealistic, anti-people, anti-industry, and anti-agriculture, the Dawn newspaper reported.