Finance Minister Promises Relief for Salaried Class in Upcoming Budget

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has announced that the government is actively working on providing relief to the salaried class in the upcoming budget. Speaking to the media, the minister stated that a comprehensive program has been designed to ease the burden on salaried individuals, which will be presented to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for approval. The minister stated, “We have prepared a program to provide relief to the salaried class in the next budget. The details of this relief will be shared with the IMF.” He assured that the government is committed to addressing the concerns of salaried individuals and will incorporate measures to support them in the upcoming fiscal year. The Finance Minister expressed confidence that the IMF Executive Board will approve the staff-level agreement in May. He highlighted that Pakistan has met all the targets set by the IMF, although some were achieved with slight delays. “We have fulfilled all the targets given by the IMF, and the staff-level agreement is expected to be approved soon,” he said. The minister revealed that 98% of budget proposals have been received from both the public and private sectors. He assured that the government is working closely with stakeholders to finalize the budget. “Before presenting the budget in the assembly, relevant sectors will be informed about which proposals will be implemented and the reasons for not implementing others,” he added. The Finance Minister confirmed that the budget will be finalized and implemented on July 1, 2025, with no changes to be made after that date. “The purpose of this is to allow more time for the implementation of the budget,” he explained. The minister also highlighted improvements in tax collection from traders and reassured that the trader-friendly schemes should not be linked to tax collection. He announced that the Tax Policy Department will begin operating under the Ministry of Finance this calendar year. Additionally, a simplified tax form is being developed to enable taxpayers to file their returns independently.