NEC to 'approve' Rs 3,795bln development budget 2025-26 today

ISLAMABAD: The National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, earlier scheduled for June 5, has been brought forward to 3 PM today, June 4, ARY News reported.

As per details, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is set to preside the National Economic Council meeting, which will focus on approving the national development budget, Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), and macroeconomic targets for the upcoming fiscal year 2025-26, with representatives from the federal and provincial governments, including all four chief ministers, in attendance.

The NEC is expected to approve a PKR 3,795 billion national development budget 2025-26, with allocations including PKR 1,000 billion for the federal government, PKR 1,188 billion for Punjab, PKR 887 billion for Sindh, PKR 440 billion for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and PKR 280 billion for Balochistan.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb will brief the prime minister on budget 2025-26 proposals, which include public-private partnership initiatives and a five-year development plan.

Sources revealed that the council will also approve a GDP growth target of 4.2%, with sectoral targets of 4.5% for agriculture, 4.3% for industry, and 4% for services.

Additionally, export targets of $35 billion, import targets of $65 billion, and remittance targets of $39 billion are slated for approval, reflecting Pakistan’s economic ambitions amid ongoing fiscal reforms, sources added.

Read More: Budget 2025-26 to be presented on June 10

Earlier, the federal government rescheduled a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was scheduled to chair the session on June 5.

Prior to this, the National Economic Council meeting was scheduled for June 9, a day before the presentation of the budget 2025-26.

It is worth mentioning here that Adviser to Finance Minister Khurram Shehzad confirmed that that the federal budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 will be presented on June 10, 2025.

“As communicated earlier, the upcoming Federal Budget FY26 is on schedule to be announced on June 10, 2025. Similarly, the upcoming Pakistan Economic Survey FY25 is scheduled to be announced on June 9, 2025,” the adviser to finance minister posted on X.

The federal government is expected to allocate over a trillion for the development budget in the upcoming fiscal year 2025-26.