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THE federal budget for 2026-27 won’t be just another annual ritual. It will likely be the penultimate budget before Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility with the IMF concludes end-2027.
If the prime minister’s stated aim to exit the IMF programme decisively is to be realised, this budget must serve as the bridge between stabilisation and sustainable growth.
The government deserves credit for meeting the performance criteria and structural benchmarks agreed with the IMF. Macroeconomic stability has been restored, inflation moderated, the exchange rate steadied and fiscal discipline improved. The task now is to move from horizontal drift to upward ascent.
Some of the ongoing reforms such as the national tariff policy, separation of tax policy, deregulation of wheat and sugar trade, FBR digitisation, Discos’ privatisation and third-party access to oil and gas companies should be carried forward. It won’t be easy; the external environment is turning slippery.
