Pakistan budget to focus on relief for farmers, industry and consumers

Pakistan’s upcoming federal budget will be farmer-friendly, industry-friendly and people-friendly, Minister of State for National Heritage and Culture Huzaifa Rehman said in an interview with ARY News.

Rehman said the government plans to create overseas employment opportunities for skilled Pakistani workers, including jobs for 40,000 skilled laborers in Italy under the upcoming budget.

He said additional agreements would also be signed to expand overseas employment opportunities for skilled Pakistanis.

The minister said the government had taken difficult economic decisions over the past two years to stabilize the economy and had removed major economic obstacles through its policies and performance.

“If the Middle East crisis had not emerged, Pakistan’s economic growth rate would have exceeded 4%,” Rehman said.

He added that petroleum prices had been steadily declining before tensions escalated in the Middle East, noting that even oil-producing economies were affected by the conflict.

Rehman said the impact of the Middle East conflict had pushed up global fuel costs, claiming that filling a car’s fuel tank in the United States had increased from USD32 to USD52 because of the crisis.

He said the upcoming budget would focus on reducing the prices of daily-use items and medicines, while the government would also take “all possible measures” to lower electricity prices in the next fiscal year.

The minister expressed hope that inflation would come under control in the next fiscal year once the situation in the Middle East improved.

Rehman said the budget would also include measures aimed at reviving Pakistan’s property sector and providing relief to farmers through lower agricultural input costs.

He added that the government was considering concessions on industrial raw materials to support manufacturing activity and create jobs.

According to Rehman, the Finance Ministry is preparing a people-friendly budget on the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.