National Assembly approves Rs4.40 trillion grants, including Rs3 trillion for defence

The National Assembly on Sunday approved 125 demands for grants worth more than Rs4.40 trillion for various ministries and divisions, including nearly Rs3 trillion for defence services, as part of the federal budget 2026-27.

The House rejected over 200 cut motions moved by opposition lawmakers, mostly from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, on demands related to the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Finance and Cabinet Division.

The approvals set the stage for the passage of the Rs18.77 trillion federal budget for the financial year ending June 30, 2027. The budget is scheduled to be passed on June 23, while supplementary grants are expected to be taken up on June 24.

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb presented the demands for grants in the House for approval.

The largest allocation cleared by the House was nearly Rs3 trillion for defence services, which passed without any cut motion or objection from either side of the aisle.

The House also approved Rs17.1 billion for the Defence Division, Rs298.05 billion for the Combined Civil Armed Forces, Rs21.65 billion for the Airports Security Force and Rs21.82 billion each for the Interior and Narcotics Control divisions.

For intelligence and accountability institutions, the National Assembly approved Rs22.96 billion for the Intelligence Bureau and Rs7.74 billion for the National Accountability Bureau.

In the nuclear sector, the House approved Rs22.58 billion for Atomic Energy, Rs2.36 billion for the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority and Rs1.34 billion for capital outlay on Atomic Energy.

The House approved 12 demands for grants worth over Rs4,282 billion for the Ministry of Finance, while rejecting 100 opposition cut motions.

Other finance-related approvals included Rs5.66 billion for the Finance Division, Rs9.87 billion for other expenditure of the Finance Division, Rs14.91 billion for the Controller General of Accounts, Rs1,162 billion for superannuation allowances and pensions, and Rs2,504 billion for grants, subsidies and miscellaneous expenditure.

The House also approved Rs85.60 billion for the Federal Board of Revenue, Rs0.106 billion for the Revenue Division, Rs94.71 billion for federal miscellaneous investments, Rs231.08 billion for other development expenditure, Rs2.35 billion for capital outlay on federal investments, Rs169.21 billion for development loans and advances, and Rs2.30 billion for external development loans and advances.

For the energy and power sector, six demands for grants worth Rs661.27 billion were approved. These included Rs578.837 billion for the Power Division, Rs1.112 billion for the Petroleum Division and Rs1.201 billion for the Geological Survey of Pakistan.

Development allocations in the energy sector included Rs3.197 billion for the Power Division, Rs0.312 billion for capital outlay on the Petroleum Division and Rs76.608 billion for external development loans and advances of the Power Division.

Power Division Minister Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari rejected opposition criticism in the cut motions and said the figures cited did not reflect the actual position of the power sector.

He said the fiscal burden of the power sector had declined from Rs1,287 billion in FY2024-25 to Rs893 billion, with a further reduction to Rs700 billion expected.

Leghari said circular debt had been reduced by Rs780 billion from Rs2.4 trillion, while reforms in distribution companies had brought losses down from Rs591 billion to Rs335 billion.

He said revised agreements with Independent Power Producers would save Rs3.5 trillion in future liabilities, adding that 76% of electricity generation now came from indigenous sources.

The minister said economic load-shedding was being carried out on around 3,500 of 14,500 feeders, while a Rs50 billion programme had been launched to eliminate it by June next year.

For the Cabinet and related departments, the House approved Rs0.709 billion for the Cabinet, Rs5.941 billion for the Cabinet Division, Rs1.796 billion for emergency relief and repatriation, Rs0.895 billion for the Prime Minister’s Office (Internal) and Rs0.921 billion for the Prime Minister’s Office (Public).

It also approved Rs1.048 billion for the National Disaster Management Authority, Rs0.858 billion for the Board of Investment, Rs0.2 billion for the Prime Minister’s Inspection Commission, Rs0.952 billion for the Special Technology Zone Authority, Rs0.205 billion for the National Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing Terrorism Authority and Rs0.25 billion for the Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority.

The House also cleared Rs63.516 billion for the development expenditure of the Cabinet Division.

Among administrative allocations, Rs10.177 billion were approved for the Establishment Division, Rs1.474 billion for the Federal Public Service Commission, Rs3.515 billion for the National School of Public Policy, Rs2.088 billion for the Civil Services Academy, Rs0.118 billion for the Council of Common Interests Secretariat and Rs0.354 billion for the Special Investment Facilitation Council Division.

For education and training, the House approved Rs42.75 billion for the Federal Education Division, Rs66.43 billion for the Higher Education Commission, Rs8.99 billion for NAVTTC and Rs28.41 billion for education development.

For health and social services, the House approved Rs37.22 billion.

In housing, planning and development, the House approved Rs142.694 million for Naya Pakistan Housing Authority, Rs5.93 billion for the Housing and Works Division, Rs9.58 billion for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Rs27.63 billion for development planning and Rs16.39 billion for civil works capital expenditure.

For information, media and technology, the House approved Rs11.01 billion for Information and Broadcasting, Rs15.9 billion for miscellaneous Information and Broadcasting, Rs22.5 billion for the Information Technology and Telecommunication Division and Rs19.58 billion for development expenditure of the Information Technology Division.

For transport and communication, the National Assembly cleared Rs354.958 million for the Communications Division, Rs36.14 billion for other communications expenditure, Rs25.54 billion for Pakistan Post Office, Rs70.48 billion for the Railways Division, Rs59.26 billion for communications development loans and Rs4.44 billion for communications development projects.

For law and parliamentary institutions, the House approved Rs11.12 billion for the Law and Justice Division, Rs354.570 million for the Federal Judicial Academy, Rs1.13 billion for the Federal Shariat Court, Rs1.85 billion for the District Judiciary Islamabad Capital Territory, Rs9.04 billion for the National Assembly, Rs3.22 billion for the Senate, Rs1.21 billion for Parliamentary Affairs and Rs322.355 million for the Council of Islamic Ideology.

For water, environment and climate-related allocations, the House approved Rs1.32 billion for the Climate Change Division, Rs4.24 billion for the Water Resources Division, Rs55.25 billion for water development loans and Rs2.48 billion for climate development projects.

For science, technology and industry, the House approved Rs15.97 billion for the Science and Technology Division, Rs4.90 billion for SUPARCO, Rs22.88 billion for Industries and Production and Rs6.66 billion for industrial development capital expenditure.

The House also approved grants for several other ministries and institutions, including Commerce Division, Economic Affairs Division, Foreign Affairs Division, Human Rights Division, Inter-Provincial Coordination Division, Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan and States and Frontier Regions Division, Maritime Affairs Division, National Health Services, Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Division, Privatization Division, Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Division, Water Resources Division and other development expenditures.

Winding up the debate, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb expressed confidence that the government would meet the revenue target for the next fiscal year.

He said no new taxes had been imposed and Rs450 billion had been recovered through litigation.

Aurangzeb said macroeconomic indicators had improved since 2022, citing 3.7% growth, a historic primary surplus and current account surpluses in both the previous and current fiscal years.

He said the debt-to-GDP ratio had declined from around 70% to 68%, and highlighted ongoing reforms in the Federal Board of Revenue.