Salaries of govt officers increased by 15%; pensions 5%; Rs740b new taxes proposed

Volume of economy stands at $387b; current account deficit projected at $16b

In FY22 alone, country offered Rs1.7tr tax exemptions to affluent, foreign investors

Demand comes before payment of around Rs300b to Chinese power plants

NEC approves Rs2.23 trillion bloated national development outlay

58% of the budget to be spent only on debt servicing and defence

Govt planning to levy 1% tax on overseas payments via credit, debit cards

Apparently, govt prefers electoral priorities over fiscal prudence

Also mulling increasing additional tax on profits from lending to govt

Disregarding the country’s thin fiscal position, federal govt has proposed Rs60 billion for parliamentarians’ schemes