A treatise on political priorities and constraints

FOR the first time in years, Pakistan’s budget reads less like a crisis management document and more like a cautious growth agenda. The budget for FY27 comes at a moment when IMF-mandated stabilisation has helped significantly improve the fiscal position, slash inflation, and contain the current account deficit. For a government that spent its first two years ‘firefighting’, this is the first budget that makes political choices. How it has used that opportunity represents both the government’...