Finance minister presents Economic Survey 2025-26 ahead of budget

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is presenting the Pakistan Economic Survey, outlining key economic indicators ahead of the federal budget announcement.

Aurangzeb said the Economic Survey was an important document, but it also told the story of the past year, adding that the country faced economic uncertainty during the previous year, followed by floods and subsequent rescue and relief efforts.

"There was uncertainty surrounding tariffs, while two other unexpected developments also emerged," he said.

Aurangzeb said Pakistan faced three major challenges and had addressed them effectively.

"These factors affected not only Pakistan and the region but the entire world," he said, adding that global growth had also slowed.

Despite external and internal challenges, Pakistan achieved GDP growth of 3.7 per cent, which he said was the highest rate recorded in the past four years.

The finance minister said there had been a broad consensus that GDP growth would exceed 4 per cent, but the conflict in the Middle East had affected the outlook.

This is a developing story.