Pakistan: Bilawal Bhutto to meet PM Shehbaz today to convey concerns about budget

Islamabad [Pakistan], June 20 : Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday to lay his party's reservations on the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2025, Geo News reported.
The development comes as the National Assembly is scheduled to resume the budget session today, after a seven-day Eid break.
The PPP has censured the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led coalition government for taking a "solo flight" and not taking the party into confidence over the budget.
Notably, the PPP is supporting the coalition government from outside and is not a part of the government.
The Bilawal-led party had even announced boycotting the budget session last week but changed the decision after Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar held multiple meetings with the PPP's top leaders to convince them otherwise, as reported by Geo News.
It is pertinent to note that for the ruling party PML-N, it is important to have the PPP's support as the PM Shehbaz-led coalition government does not have a parliamentary majority to help it pass the budget smoothly.
Geo News reported citing The News that a PPP delegation led by former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, will meet the premier and will convey their reservations with regard to the political situation in Punjab as well as the issue of unreleased share of finances for Sindh.
Meanwhile, PPP Secretary Information Shazia Marri has confirmed the meeting and said: "The government reached out for the meeting and Bilawal will place the genuine PPP concerns before PM Shehbaz."
The News earlier reported that PM Shehbaz has decided to expand the federal cabinet inviting the PPP to join the government formally. However, Bilawal's party has turned down the offer so far. PPP leader and provincial minister Nasir Hussain Shah also confirmed the party's stand.
The publication's report said that Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal has been given an important task by the PML-N leadership following which he has contacted Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti and Qamar Zaman Kaira on the issue.
Despite PML-N leader Tariq Fazal Chaudhry's assurance that the PPP's concerns will be duly addressed, the situation remains ambiguous.
The Pakistan government has less than two weeks to get parliamentary approval as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has told the Pakistani authorities to include its guidelines in the budget, as reported by Geo News.
Pakistan has approached the US-based lender for a new bailout package while the taxation measures announced by Federal Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb in the budget have been rejected by the trade bodies.
However, the government has clarified that it has to meet the revenue targets to get the loan from the IMF.