ISLAMABAD: In order to discuss the budget for the fiscal year 2024–25, which the federal government plans to present next month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with senior PPP leadership on Sunday.
The current political climate in the nation was discussed at the meeting, which was also attended by PPP members Raja Pervez Ashraf, Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah, Sherry Rehman, and Naveed Qamar, Deputy PM Ishaq Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, PM Advisor on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, and Information Minister Ataullah Tarar.
According to a story in The News, the federal government plans to unveil the budget for the upcoming fiscal year on June 7, but the actual date has not yet been announced.
The high-level meeting takes place because the PM Shehbaz-led Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government will require the PPP’s backing in order to approve the budget because it does not currently have the necessary number of members in the National Assembly.
After the votes on February 8, the two parties decided to work together to promote Shehbaz’s election as the nation’s premier through the PPP in exchange for a number of constitutional positions, including Senate Chairman, governors of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and others.
The approval of the FY2024–25 budget is important since the government formally requested in April that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) provide the next bailout package, estimated to be between $6 and $8 billion under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
