An all-opposition seminar convened by the Awaam Pakistan Party at the National Press Club Islamabad placed Budget 2026 under sharp scrutiny, with political leaders, economists, business representatives, and civil society calling the federal plan inadequate to address Pakistan’s mounting economic and social challenges.<\/p>\n
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, president of Awaam Pakistan Party and former prime minister, said the budget has failed to ease the hardships of ordinary citizens and underlined that progress is impossible without fundamental reforms, the rule of law, political stability, and transparent elections. He warned that rising poverty, unemployment, inflation and the heavy debt burden are eroding livelihoods across the country.<\/p>\n
Miftah Ismail, secretary general of the Awaam Pakistan Party, argued that Budget 2026 lacks an effective strategy to control inflation, reduce poverty, and create jobs, and instead shifts a heavier tax burden onto the public. Party leaders said the package offers no credible plan to revive investment, exports or industrial growth.<\/p>\n
Chaudhry Inam Zafar commended the seminar as a meaningful forum for debate while Allama Raja Nasir Abbas emphasized that the government must deliver healthcare, education and essential services in return for taxes collected from citizens. Former speaker Asad Qaiser cautioned that judicial independence, political stability and investor confidence are prerequisites for economic development and highlighted the decline in agriculture and constraints on border trade.<\/p>\n
Dr Zafar Mirza raised alarm about a downward trend in Pakistan’s human development indicators over the past twelve years, pointing to growing incidents of polio, hepatitis, diabetes and mental health disorders. He urged the government to prioritise healthcare and make it central to national planning.<\/p>\n
Salman Akram Raja highlighted how rising debt and debt servicing reduce funds available for development projects, education and health, calling for greater public investment, constitutional supremacy, stronger local governments and comprehensive reforms to protect social spending.<\/p>\n
Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar warned that increasing poverty, inflation and unemployment are eroding the middle class, while Muzammil Aslam described the federal budget as skewed toward particular groups rather than the majority, urging investment in education, healthcare, human development and pension reform. Taimur Khan Jhagra stressed the need to expand the tax base, cut unnecessary expenditures and implement administrative reforms.<\/p>\n
Former governor Muhammad Zubair noted that inflation hits the poorest hardest, and business leaders like Ajmal Baloch said declining purchasing power has severely affected industries and trade. Real estate expert Muhammad Ahsan Malik argued the budget provides little relief to ordinary citizens while offering concessions to privileged sectors, calling for broader expert consultation and a fairer taxation system.<\/p>\n
The seminar concluded with an interactive question-and-answer session where participants exchanged views on Budget 2026 and Pakistan’s wider economic path, reiterating that meaningful reform, transparent elections and respect for the rule of law are essential for sustainable recovery and renewed public confidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Opposition leaders say Budget 2026 fails to curb inflation or unemployment and burdens citizens; seminar urges reforms, rule of law, and transparent elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":19520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}