Federal budget presentation moved to June 10, National Economic Council meeting postponed

ISLAMABAD: The federal government will now present the budget for the financial year 2026-27 on June 10 instead of June 5, while the National Assembly session called for the budget presentation has also been postponed, according to media reports. 

The budget was earlier scheduled to be presented on Friday, June 5.

Business Recorder reported, quoting PML-N MNA Tahira Aurangzeb as saying that the federal budget would now be presented on Wednesday, June 10. However, she did not specify the reasons for the change in the schedule.

The development came after the National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, postponed its meeting scheduled for Wednesday, June 3.

According to a Cabinet Division notice, the NEC meeting scheduled for June 3, 2026, had been postponed, and a new date would be communicated later.

“It is to inform that the meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) scheduled on Wednesday, 3rd June, 2026, has been postponed. New date will be communicated in due time,” read the notice by the Cabinet Division.

The NEC meeting is important because the constitutional body approves key macroeconomic targets and endorses the size of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) before the federal budget is presented.

Sources familiar with the matter said that the size and composition of the PSDP remained one of the key unresolved issues in budget discussions. They said several stakeholders within the coalition government were seeking higher allocations for development schemes despite fiscal constraints.

The postponement of the NEC meeting is expected to allow further deliberations on the upcoming budget before final approval of macroeconomic targets and the development programme.

Meanwhile, Geo News reported, citing parliamentary sources, that the federal budget had been delayed because the government wanted to complete key legislation before the budget session.

According to National Assembly sources, the proposed laws would have important implications for the upcoming federal budget. However, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a key ally in the coalition government, was opposing the proposed amendments.

According to the report, if the amendments are not passed before the budget session, some changes planned for the next financial year would not be possible.

It said that important personalities had been tasked with persuading the PPP leadership to resolve the deadlock.

The report added that the government’s other coalition partner, MQM-P, had also attached conditions to its support for the budget. MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar had last week linked budget approval to the reappointment of Kamran Tessori as governor of Sindh.

The postponement of the NEC meeting is expected to provide additional time for deliberations on macroeconomic targets, PSDP allocations and coalition concerns before the budget is presented in the National Assembly.