NA Approves Rs. 3 Trillion for Defence Budget Without Any Opposition

The National Assembly unanimously approved Rs. 3 trillion for the armed forces as lawmakers cleared 125 demands for grants for the 2026-27 fiscal year, paving the way for the passage of the Rs. 18.77 trillion federal budget.

The lower house is scheduled to pass the budget on Tuesday, June 23, while supplementary grants will be taken up on June 24. The approved demands cover expenditures for ministries, divisions, and government departments. No cut motions were moved against the defence allocation, allowing it to pass without opposition.

The Assembly approved allocations of Rs. 661.27 billion for the energy sector, including Rs. 578.84 billion for the Power Division and Rs. 1.11 billion for the Petroleum Division. It also approved Rs. 76.61 billion in external development loans and advances for the Power Division. Other major allocations included Rs. 1,162 billion for pensions, Rs. 2,504 billion for grants and subsidies, Rs. 85.6 billion for the Federal Board of Revenue, and Rs. 231.08 billion for other development expenditures.

Several institutions and departments also received funding approvals, including the Cabinet Division, the Prime Minister’s Office, the National Disaster Management Authority, the Special Technology Zone Authority, the Board of Investment, the Higher Education Commission, the National Assembly, the Senate, and various ministries overseeing climate change, commerce, communications, information technology, health, railways, science and technology, and water resources.

Power Minister Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari defended the government’s performance in the energy sector, saying the fiscal burden had declined from Rs. 1,287 billion in FY25 to Rs. 893 billion and was expected to fall further to Rs. 700 billion. He said circular debt had been reduced by Rs. 780 billion from Rs. 2.4 trillion, while losses at power distribution companies had dropped from Rs. 591 billion to Rs. 335 billion.

Leghari said revised agreements with Independent Power Producers would save Rs. 3.5 trillion in future liabilities. He added that 76 percent of electricity generation now comes from indigenous sources and that a Rs. 50 billion program has been launched to eliminate economic load shedding by June next year.

Wrapping up the debate, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb expressed confidence that the government would achieve its revenue targets in the next fiscal year.

He said no new taxes had been introduced and that Rs. 450 billion had been recovered through litigation. Aurangzeb highlighted improvements in macroeconomic indicators, including economic growth of 3.7 percent, historically high primary surpluses, and current account surpluses in both the current and previous fiscal years.

Opposition lawmakers criticized the budget, arguing that it offered little relief to ordinary citizens. They said poverty levels had worsened, questioned the effectiveness of reforms at the Federal Board of Revenue, and accused the government of increasing the burden on existing taxpayers instead of expanding the tax base.