Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday launched a harsh broadside against the federal budget in the Senate, with the party’s parliamentary leader Barrister Syed Ali Zafar dismissing the government’s fiscal plan as a "broken promises budget" plagued with what he called "eleven deadly sins" and unable to provide public aid or sustainable economic growth. Opening a wide-ranging critique of the budget for fiscal years 2026-27, Zafar argued that every budget should serve two fundamental purposes: improving the lives of ordinary citizens and laying the foundation for long-term growth and jobs. He argued that the government’s latest financial plan had failed to meet both objectives, accusing it of offering neither meaningful relief to struggling households nor a credible strategy to revive the economy.
"Unfortunately, this budget does not achieve any of the objectives. It does not provide meaningful relief to ordinary citizens or establish a credible long-term plan for economic development and job creation." he told the Senate. The PTI senator said the government had ignored eleven critical areas that should have formed the backbone of a serious economic agenda. These included a long-term growth strategy, an industrialization policy, agricultural reforms despite rising imports of cotton, wheat and sugar, export promotion, youth employment, expansion of the information technology sector, a solution to circular debt, a coherent energy policy, investments in dams and water conservation amid increasing pressure on the Jhelum and Chenab rivers, climate change, population growth management and education. Regarding the education sector, Zafar said: "Education is the foundation of progress and prosperity, but the government seems to have completely neglected it. It is as if the government does not want to spread the light of knowledge among the people, but is content to leave them in the darkness of ignorance." said. He accused successive governments of relying on short-term solutions rather than addressing the economy’s structural weaknesses.
