Budget likely in second week of June

The federal government was expected to finalise the budget strategy paper next week, while the budget for 2023-24 would be presented in the National Assembly on June 9 or 10, finance ministry sources said on Wednesday.

However, the before the start of the giant budget-making exercise, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) was braced with a new snag as its headquarters was flooded with leave applications from various field formations.

According to the finance ministry sources, a meeting of the Annual Planning Coordination Committee would be held in mid-May to prepare the outline of the development budget.

They added that as part of the budget preparation, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would chair the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting in the first week of June. The Economic Survey was expected on June 8, the sources said.

On this important occasion of budget-making for the next financial year 2023-24, the officers at the FBR headquarters and its subordinate departments had excused themselves from work due to inflation.

The FBR headquarters and field officers have been flooded with requests for leave till June 30. A senior FBR officer said that young officers of the Inland Revenue Service of the FBR had formed a group and started a series of protests.

He added that the leave applications from the young officers started on Wednesday, adding that the Inland Revenue Operations Department was looking into the matter. “It is expected that this matter will be resolved in the next few days, the officer said.

It is learnt that the text of the leave applications from different field formations is the same, but these are sent individually. The applications said that because of the skyrocketing inflation, it had become difficult for them to eke out a living.