• Party criticises tax cuts for higher earners, businesses
• Says salaried class remains overtaxed

ISLAMABAD: PTI has rejected the federal budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year, condemning the document as a refined exercise in elite self-preservation presented with the sincerity of a merchant extolling the virtues of yesterday’s unsold stock.

The party reaffirmed its determination to expose fiscal contrivances and advance an economic direction that measures progress by the security and dignity of the many, rather than the comfort of the few.

PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram told Dawn that the Economic Survey demonstrated a continuous decline across all sectors compared to the PTI’s tenure. He criticised the government for touting a 3.7 per cent growth rate as proof of economic resurgence. The previous administration, he noted, recorded nearly 6pc growth in its final year despite a global pandemic.

“The government, with characteristic modesty, treats its more modest achievement as a historic breakthrough, while relying heavily on remittances, external borrowing and factors that deliver little tangible benefit to those who live and work within economy,” Mr Akram said.

Mr Akram noted the poorest sections of society are left to manage increasingly difficult circumstances.

Furthermore, the salaried class remains the economy’s most heavily taxed segment, he said. Real incomes have steadily diminished while budget relief measures, such as reductions for higher income brackets and the abolition of the super tax on select business revenues are for those already well-positioned to absorb economic pressure.

“Ordinary employees are left with token adjustments whose value is quickly consumed by inflation now projected at 8.2pc,” the PTI leader explained.

Over recent budgets, the government had imposed every conceivable tax and withdrawn numerous exemptions, leaving nothing substantive for the common citizen or small businesses, Mr Akram remarked. Traders faced a new fixed tax regime, expanded withholding taxes on unregistered purchases and aggressive enforcement through large-scale, faceless audits, he said.

He regretted that the approach did not aim to broaden the tax base or bring new taxpayers into the net. “Penalties for late filing and non-compliance have been significantly increased. Instead, it relies on harassment and coercion of already compliant taxpayers to extract more revenue, while doing little to address widespread tax evasion.”

He accused the PML-N of statistical flexibility and selective historical recollection, attributing notable developments to current leadership while ignoring earlier achievements. Mr Akram observed that debt servicing now accounts for Rs8,054 billion of the total Rs18,771bn expenditure, effectively crowding out resources for development.

The emphasis on privatisation of national assets risks benefiting connected interests rather than the public, he added.

External financing arrangements, such as the Panda Bond and Eurobond, are presented as signs of international confidence, but actually deepened long-term dependence and transfer future obligations to subsequent generations, Mr Akram concluded.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2026