LAHORE: The Finance Minister of Punjab, Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman, announced that the provincial budget would be proposed on June 16 for fiscal year 2026-27. He revealed the budget will be based on trade and industries in the region, while there would be no imposition of taxes as well.
Mujtaba stated that after the presentation of the budget, he along with other members of the cabinet would meet on June 16 at 11:00 AM to discuss the draft budget. This is the third budget proposal of the tenure of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif. Her directives were followed while framing the budget.
The finance minister left little ambiguity about where the government’s economic ambitions lie. Next fiscal year, Punjab’s budget focus shifts squarely toward commerce and industrial growth a deliberate push to pull more Pakistanis into formal employment. According to Mujtaba, there had been huge investments in infrastructure projects to stimulate business and create job opportunities for people within the province.
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Sources told Focus Pakistan, there have been no indications of any taxes proposed by the government to be added to the next budget. However, the authorities are still looking for ways to widen their tax base and possibly revise some fees. The amount that would go into the coffers of the provincial budget according to NFA is above Rs4.5 trillion.
Social Sector Commitments Stay Intact
Despite the commercial focus, Mujtaba assured that education, health, and social protection remain the government’s primary obligations. All existing welfare schemes carry forward into the new budget cycle. Salary and pension hikes matching the increases announced in the federal budget also feature in the provincial plan, sources at the finance ministry said.
The minister tied resource allocation directly to measurable outcomes for citizens a departure, he argued, from how budgets have traditionally operated in Punjab. He noted that for the first time in the province’s history, stakeholders from all major sectors received a formal platform before the budget to present their concerns and proposals, with the stated objective of producing a genuinely public-oriented financial plan.
Mujtaba said concrete steps to widen the provincial tax base and increase internally generated revenues will form a structural part of the budget strategy. The finance department for the very first time convened a round-table pre-budget conference where experts from important economic sectors presented their recommendations to be incorporated into the budget-making process.
The minister underlined that the government’s fiscal philosophy centres on connecting budget resources to real-world public benefit rather than keeping spending abstract. He maintained that unlike previous administrations, the current government had followed through on the projects it announced and had already completed several of them a record he said the new budget would build on.
The budget is also seen as continuing to provide subsidies for farmers, students, and laborers, focusing on those who are most vulnerable to inflationary challenges during the province’s phase of fiscal consolidation.
The start of the budget discussion will begin with the assembly meeting of Punjab that is scheduled for June 16, where the government hopes to rely on industrial growth and social expenditure discipline in its third year in power.
Faraz Ali Ansari is the Founder & Editor of Focus Pakistan and Founder & CEO of Focus Public Relations. With more than 22 years of experience in journalism, media relations and strategic communications, he covers business, economy, aviation, technology, public policy and corporate affairs. He has worked with leading national and international organizations across multiple sectors.
