Pakistan sets aside PKR 1.52 trillion for defence spending

Islamabad [Pakistan], June 11 : Pakistani government has proposed an allocation of PKR 1.523 trillion for defence services for the fiscal year 2022-23, with an increase of 11.16 per cent over the initial allocation for the outgoing year (2021-22), according to local media.
Citing the budget documents tabled in the National Assembly, Dawn newspaper reported that the allocation makes up nearly 1.94 per cent of the GDP and 16 per cent of the total expenditure planned by the government for the next year.
The hike is almost at par with the average inflation calculated for the year ending on June 30, the newspaper said.
Dawn citing a source, last week said that defence spending in the next year would be increased by 6 per cent to PKR 1.45 trillion.
On Friday, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail presented the budget of 9.5 trillion rupees for the upcoming fiscal year starting from July 2022 to June 2023 at the Lower House of the country's parliament.
A day after the federal budget, Ismail on Saturday said that Pakistan is going through a "very difficult" phase.
"I have never seen a more difficult time in the past 30 years where on the one hand, the international environment is very challenging and the government or administration has worsened and nothing was done to resolve issues," Dawn quoted the Pakistan Finance Minister as saying.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the budget balanced, progressive and pro-people.
"Making a budget in financially challenging times with so many constraints is no less than a herculean task...Through this budget, my government will steer our way out of these challenges by taking tough decisions while minimizing the impact on vulnerable segments of the population," the Prime Minister said.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan rejected the budget for the new fiscal year presented by the incumbent government, calling it "anti-people" and "anti-business".
"We reject this anti-people & anti-business budget presented by imported govt," Khan tweeted, saying it is based on "unrealistic assumptions" on inflation and economic growth.
"Budget is based on unrealistic assumptions on inflation (11.5 per cent) and economic growth (5 per cent). Today's SPI of 24 per cent indicates that inflation will be between 25/30 per cent which on the one hand will destroy the common man," he said continuing the thread on Twitter.
Imran went on to say that weekly inflation, as measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), came in at about 24 per cent which also indicates that inflation will be between 25-30 per cent. It will not only destroy the common man but on the other hand, also retard economic growth due to high-interest rates.
All tax reforms and pro-poor programmes introduced during the PTI government had been shelved, he said lambasting at Shehbaz government.