PM Shehbaz Sharif holds pre-budget meeting in Lahore

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday called an important meeting – before announcing the budget of Punjab – at his residence in Model Town, Lahore, ARY News reported, citing sources.

The Chief Secretary of Punjab and caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab Mohsin Naqvi reached the residence of the PM in Model Town, including the secretaries of various departments.

Sources stated that the finance secretary and concerned officials will also likely attend the meeting, while the finance secretary will give a briefing to the PM regarding the budget.

READ: CM Murad Ali Shah unveils Rs2.24 trillion Sindh budget

Moreover, the caretaker CM is likely to announce the budget of Punjab in the next week.

Earlier to this, the federal budget presented by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government witnessed an increase in the taxes of various consumer goods including auto, dairy products and branded garments.

READ: Ishaq Dar unveils federal budget for FY 2023-24 with total outlay of 14.5tr

According to the details, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar presented a budget of Rs. 144.60 Trillion for the fiscal year 2023-24 in the National Assembly, raising the sales taxes by 12 to 18 per cent in various sectors.

On the other hand, the finance minister Ishaq Dar announced a 35 per cent adhoc relief allowance will be given to federal government employees of scale one to 16, while 30 per cent of adhoc relief will be given to employees of scale 17 and above.