ISLAMABAD: PTI’s parliamentary leader in the Senate, Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, rejected the federal budget for 2026-27, describing it as a document that delivers neither public welfare nor long-term economic growth.
He termed it a “budget of broken promises” based on what he called “eleven deadly sins”.
Speaking during the Senate budget debate on Tuesday, Zafar said every budget should focus on two key objectives: ensuring benefits reach ordinary citizens and presenting a credible strategy for economic growth and job creation.
“Unfortunately, this budget fails to achieve either objective. It neither provides meaningful relief to the common citizen nor sets out a credible long-term plan for economic development and job creation,” he said.
Zafar highlighted 11 areas where he claimed the government had failed to provide direction, including a long-term growth strategy, industrialisation policy, agricultural planning despite increasing imports of cotton, wheat and sugar, a roadmap for increasing exports, youth employment measures, expansion of the IT sector, a solution to circular debt, a clear energy policy, water conservation plans amid pressure on rivers such as the Jhelum and Chenab, climate change measures, population growth management and education reforms.
Criticising the education sector, Zafar said education was the foundation of national progress and prosperity, but claimed the government had ignored it. He said it appeared that the government was not focused on spreading knowledge among the people and was leaving them behind.
He criticised the government’s economic approach, saying that for years it had relied on International Monetary Fund (IMF) programmes and increased taxation on citizens rather than addressing deeper economic issues.
Zafar said the government’s failures were due to incompetence rather than bad intentions. He argued that the inability to identify and resolve fundamental issues reflected weak governance and poor economic management.
Highlighting that Budget 2026-27 was the government’s fifth budget, Zafar said previous budgets were accompanied by excuses instead of achievements. He claimed the first budget blamed PTI, the second repeated the same narrative, the third showed no progress, the fourth blamed the IMF, and the latest one blamed external factors, including the United States and Israel.
“The real reasons for the government’s failure are much closer to home. The first is incompetence. The second is the absence of political stability,” he said, adding that a government lacking public support could not present an effective vision.
He also claimed that people still considered PTI founder Imran Khan their real leader.
Zafar accused the government of setting 10 “records of failure” and pointed out seven areas that he said were declining, including exports, living standards, economic growth, investment, the value of the rupee, business confidence and government credibility.
Criticising the government’s 4 per cent growth target, Zafar mocked the figure by saying that “a tortoise with arthritis could move faster,” adding that for the government, even remaining stagnant appeared to be an achievement.
He also criticised the government’s taxation policies, particularly the burden placed on salaried individuals while untaxed sectors remained outside the tax system.
“The government appears determined to squeeze the last drop of blood from the bones of the salaried class,” he said, arguing that repeated tax increases without economic growth were ineffective.
Rejecting the government’s description of the budget as a “stabilisation budget”, Zafar said it was instead a “stabilisation of poverty, hardship and hopelessness” for ordinary citizens.
Speaking about the primary surplus target, he alleged that it was being achieved at the expense of public needs, saying families were being forced to compromise on education, healthcare and basic necessities so that savings could be used for debt payments and interest.
Using an analogy, Zafar compared the government’s economic management to a repairman who refuses to fix a leaking roof and instead keeps adding more buckets underneath it.
“The roof is still leaking. The problem has not been solved. Yet instead of repairing the roof, the government is now asking the provinces to give up the very bricks needed to keep it standing,” he said.
Zafar said he rejected the budget because of its “harsh and burdensome nature”.
Other senators also criticised the budget and the ruling government during the debate.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) parliamentary leader in the Senate, Maulana Attaur Rehman, criticised the federal budget and raised concerns over the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying economic stability could not be achieved without restoring peace, especially in KP and Balochistan.
He said law and order in KP had worsened and that disappointment was spreading among citizens. He added that he personally felt unsafe while visiting the province.
Rehman also criticised the taxation of tobacco, saying it was a major crop of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “We want the country’s security and development,” he said.
Talking about Gilgit-Baltistan, the JUI-F leader alleged that his party’s candidates were defeated due to rigging, adding that the PPP had also raised similar concerns.
“This is the same complaint the PPP is making. On election day in Gilgit-Baltistan, the polls were rigged,” he said.
PTI Senator Mushal Azam also rejected Budget 2026-27, saying it provided no relief for poor citizens and warning the government of public anger if economic difficulties continued.
“The people need two meals a day, not lollipops,” Azam said during the debate.
PPP Senator Zameer Hussain Ghumro said the budget should include additional incentives aimed at improving the welfare and well-being of the people.