{"id":19525,"date":"2026-06-15T08:47:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T08:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2026\/06\/15\/driving-post-budget-growth-pakistan\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T09:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T09:11:12","slug":"driving-post-budget-growth-pakistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2026\/06\/15\/driving-post-budget-growth-pakistan\/","title":{"rendered":"Driving Post Budget Growth in Pakistan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Post-Budget Pakistan 2026\u201327: A Roadmap for Inclusive Growth and Poverty Reduction\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Professor Nadeem Iqbal<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Federal Budget 2026\u201327 presents a crucial opportunity for Pakistan to rethink its economic priorities and adopt a more growth-oriented, poverty-reducing, and sustainable development strategy. Pakistan continues to face serious economic challenges, including inflation, unemployment, energy shortages, agricultural inefficiencies, fiscal deficits, and rising poverty. While social protection programs remain important, long-term prosperity cannot be achieved through cash transfers alone. Instead, Pakistan must focus on productive investments in human capital, agriculture, energy, governance, and economic activity. A strategic reallocation of budgetary resources can help transform the country\u2019s economic landscape.<\/p>\n

One major area for budget restructuring is the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Benazir Income Support Programme. Although BISP has played a significant role in providing financial assistance to vulnerable households, excessive reliance on direct cash transfers may create long-term dependency rather than economic empowerment. Therefore, reducing the BISP allocation from PKR 838 billion to PKR 500 billion can create fiscal space for more productive sectors. This reduction does not imply eliminating support for the poor; rather, it reflects a shift from welfare dependency toward capacity building and economic inclusion.<\/p>\n

From the reallocated BISP funds, PKR 100 billion should be dedicated specifically to skills development at the Union Council level across Pakistan. Skills development is one of the most effective tools for poverty reduction because it enhances employability, promotes entrepreneurship, and increases productivity. Establishing vocational and technical training centers in every Union Council can equip youth, women, and unemployed individuals with practical skills such as digital literacy, IT services, solar installation, electrical work, plumbing, agribusiness, and small-scale manufacturing. Such localized training programs can create employment opportunities close to home and reduce urban migration. In the long run, a skilled workforce will strengthen Pakistan\u2019s competitiveness in both domestic and international labor markets.<\/p>\n

Improving governance is another essential post-budget priority. Pakistan loses substantial public resources due to inefficiency, corruption, weak implementation, and poor accountability. Better governance means improved public financial management, digitization of government services, transparency in procurement, and stronger institutional monitoring. Without governance reforms, even increased budgets may fail to deliver desired outcomes. Efficient governance ensures that public funds reach intended beneficiaries and produce measurable outcomes. Therefore, governance reforms must accompany every fiscal policy intervention.<\/p>\n

Education is another sector that requires urgent budget enhancement. Increasing the education budget to PKR 250 billion is essential for building Pakistan\u2019s future. Education remains the backbone of economic development because it produces human capital, innovation, and social mobility. Pakistan continues to struggle with low literacy rates, poor educational infrastructure, teacher shortages, and inadequate research funding. Increased investment should focus on school infrastructure, teacher training, digital classrooms, research grants, and technical education. Higher education institutions should also be supported to produce research relevant to industry and national development. A stronger education system will not only reduce poverty but also improve national productivity and global competitiveness.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the health budget should be increased to PKR 50 billion to strengthen healthcare delivery. Access to affordable and quality healthcare remains limited for millions of Pakistanis, especially in rural areas. Many households fall into poverty due to healthcare expenses. Budget expansion in health should prioritize rural hospitals, basic health units, maternal care, preventive healthcare, vaccination, and digital health services. A healthier population contributes more effectively to economic growth through higher productivity and lower absenteeism.<\/p>\n

The energy sector also demands significant investment. Increasing the energy budget to PKR 200 billion can help address one of Pakistan\u2019s biggest economic bottlenecks: high energy costs and unreliable supply. Expensive electricity increases production costs for industry, agriculture, and households. Lower-cost and reliable energy can boost industrial growth, exports, and job creation. Energy reforms should focus on reducing transmission losses, modernizing infrastructure, and expanding renewable energy sources such as solar power.<\/p>\n

Agriculture remains the backbone of Pakistan\u2019s economy and employs a large share of the population. Therefore, increasing the agricultural budget\u2014particularly for seeds and subsidies\u2014is vital. High-quality seeds significantly improve crop yields, farmer income, and food security. The government should increase seed subsidies and ensure farmers have access to modern seed technologies. In addition, reducing costs related to pesticides and agricultural inputs can improve profitability for farmers. Lower input costs directly enhance agricultural productivity and reduce food inflation.<\/p>\n

One of the most impactful policy interventions would be providing subsidies for agricultural electricity. Electricity costs for tube wells, irrigation systems, and farm machinery have become a major burden on farmers. Lower electricity costs would reduce production expenses, increase farm profitability, and improve rural incomes. This single policy can push millions of rural households above the poverty line by increasing agricultural returns and improving household financial stability.<\/p>\n

Pakistan should also aggressively promote solar systems for agricultural purposes. Solar-powered irrigation and farm operations can reduce dependency on expensive grid electricity and diesel. The government should facilitate solar adoption through subsidies, easy financing, and low-interest installment plans. Solarization of agriculture can reduce energy costs, improve environmental sustainability, and protect farmers from electricity price volatility.<\/p>\n

Finally, the real estate sector should be facilitated to revive economic activity. Real estate has strong linkages with construction, cement, steel, labor markets, and financial services. When real estate performs well, economic circulation accelerates. Excessive taxation and regulatory hurdles have slowed investment in this sector. Rational taxation, simplified approval systems, and improved financing mechanisms can stimulate construction activity and generate employment. A vibrant real estate sector creates multiplier effects across the economy and strengthens domestic investment.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, Pakistan\u2019s post-budget strategy for 2026\u201327 should prioritize productive investment over passive welfare. Reducing BISP allocations moderately while investing in skills, education, health, energy, agriculture, and real estate can create sustainable economic growth. The ultimate goal should be empowerment rather than dependence. By improving governance and reallocating resources toward productivity-enhancing sectors, Pakistan can achieve inclusive growth, reduce poverty, and build a stronger economic future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Post Budget Pakistan must reallocate BISP funds to skills, education, energy and agriculture to drive inclusive growth and reduce poverty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":19524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[113],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19525","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=19525"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19527,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19525\/revisions\/19527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}