Trade and industry leaders on Saturday strongly criticised the federal and Sindh budgets for the upcoming fiscal year, calling them deeply disappointing and discriminatory towards Karachi, the country’s economic nerve centre. Businessmen Group (BMG) Chairman Zubair Motiwala and Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Jawed Bilwani expressed serious concerns over the sheer negl
A parliamentary panel on Saturday pressed senior tax officials to drop proposed provisions in the Finance Bill 2025 granting arrest and money laundering notice powers to tax commissioners, warning the move would create unnecessary obstacles for businesses. The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, chaired by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, convened for a second consecutive day to exami
The Finance Division on Sunday night notified hefty increases in the prices of both petrol and diesel, with the rates climbing by Rs4.80 and Rs7.95 per litre, respectively. According to a notification seen by Dawn.com, the finance division stated that the new prices had been determined “based on the recommendations of Ogra (Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority) and the relevant ministries”. From
Balochistan Finance Minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani will present the provincial budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 on Tuesday (tomorrow), with the total outlay of the surplus budget expected to exceed Rs1 trillion. Under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, Balochistan is set to receive Rs743 billion from federal revenues, distributed mainly through the divisible pool taxes and dir
We can characterise the FY26 budget as well-intentioned fiscal austerity, but overall, it does little to expand the tax base and isn’t very plausible (4.2 per cent GDP growth with full austerity is an extreme goal). It imposes fiscal responsibility on the provinces and targets a consolidated fiscal deficit of 3.9pc of GDP, which is more ambitious than even the International Monetary Fund. While