Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has convened a meeting of the federal cabinet tomorrow before the official budget meeting. The cabinet budget is likely to approve the budget for the next financial year. The meeting is also likely to decide about an increase in salaries and pensions of government employees, as per sources. Approval for a development budget of Rs2,709 billion is expected to be sought from the cabinet.

A development budget of Rs426 billion for Punjab is expected to be proposed in the meeting, as well as Rs268 billion for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Rs617 billion for Sindh and Rs248 billion for Balochistan. An increase of 20% and 15% in the pension of government employees is also likely to be proposed, the sources said. The cabinet meeting agenda also includes approval for Rs1,800 billion for defence, according to the sources. The revenue target for the Federal Board of Revenue will be proposed to be Rs9,200 billion and non-tax revenue Rs2,800 billion.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP