PTI rejects 'pro-rich, anti-poor' budget

ISLAMABAD:

The opposition PTI on Friday rejected the federal budget for the upcoming fiscal year, terming it a pro-rich and anti-poor financial plan that places the burden on ordinary citizens while extending relief to privileged segments of society.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar said the PML-N-led government's fiscal plan offered no meaningful relief to the public. He described the budget as disappointing and said the party had no expectations from the government.

He added that there had been no notable improvement in governance over the past four years, alleging that instead of reducing expenditure, the government had relied on repeated borrowing. Gohar said government mismanagement and extravagance had increased, stressing that a budget should provide real relief to citizens and reduce economic hardship.

On political engagement, he said efforts were ongoing for meetings with party leadership and contacts were being made wherever there was any possibility of progress, but no positive response had been received so far. He added that the public was under severe economic pressure while the government continued to invite the opposition for engagement. "The PTI would not attend meetings for photo-ops". He sought serious political progress.

Separately, PTI Central Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram said the budget was effectively a typical PML-N document, alleging that it reflected an "elite-friendly" approach in which the poor were given only "crumbs" while the wealthy received relief.

He alleged that the 2026-27 budget was based on manipulation of figures and focused on harassment of honest taxpayers rather than genuine reforms. He also criticised the introduction of faceless audits, saying they were being used to target legitimate businesses.

Akram said the government had imposed taxes across multiple areas in recent budgets while continuing to manipulate figures, adding that the latest financial plan followed the same pattern. He claimed the budget punished honest taxpayers while ignoring large-scale tax evasion, describing it as deceptive and anti-public.