Elite individuals in Pakistan to gain riches with PTI's proposed budget, presumably leaving the common people financially unaided.
NAISHAHOLO: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has launched a blistering attack on the latest Federal Budget for 2025-26, branding it a 'banker's blueprint' deliberately tailored to fatten the wallets of the wealthy elite while pushing the masses further into the abyss.
Addressing the media, the National Assembly's opposition leader Omar Ayub, accompanied by Asad Qaiser, Gohar Ali Khan, and other senior party comrades, denounced the budget as a 'giveaway handcrafted by a banker, built solely for his swanky banker cronies.'
"This ain't a people's budget - it's a bloody banker's business strategy," Ayub snarled. "This illegitimate regime is gearing up to borrow another Rs6,300 billion from local banks, paving the way for a handful of bank tycoons to morph from billionaires to trillionaires, leaving the nation shoulder-deep in debt."
Ayub leveled charges of fiscal cruelty and political repression against the government, warning that the prices for basic necessities such as flour, sugar, and lentils would leapfrog under the new fiscal policies. "They can't even hold their own in Parliament. Both the finance minister and the prime minister have skipped town whenever the going got tough."
Moreover, Ayub alleged that former MNA Ijaz Chaudhry was nabbed in the dead of night while former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi continue to languish in captivity as playthings of political vendettas. He declared that several senior PTI leaders, including Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Omar Cheema, Hassaan Niazi, Yasmin Rashid, and others, were cuffed up without bail.
However, Asad Qaiser counter-attacked, accusing the government of stripping Parliament of its power and reducing it to mere rubber stamps.
MNA Sanaullah Mastikhel, firing off against the almighty energy lobbies, asserted that Independent Power Producers (IPPs) were 'untouchable profiteers' who have looted the nation for decades under the reign of successive governments. "These IPPs have transformed into a cartel, vampirizing the nation through inflated capacity payments and rock-solid contracts. They're paid regardless of whether they generate electricity or not while the average Pakistani lives in darkness and bankruptcy."
Masti accused the government of shielding these corporate titans while the populace groans under the weight of rolling blackouts and colossal electricity bills. "Every time the people tighten their belts, these energy honchos relax theirs. Now, with this budget, the same crooks are getting even more perks. It's broad daylight robbery, institutionalized."
Masti demanded a comprehensive audit of all IPP contracts and advocated for a complete overhaul of the power sector.
In short, the opposition views the 2025-26 Federal Budget as a plot devised to pamper bankers and the wealthy elite, sacrificing transparency, fairness, and the needs of the population at large. They condemn the new tax structure as regressive, exacerbating income inequality, and allege that the entire process lacks public consultation and a clear mandate.[1][2][3]
- The opposition leader Omar Ayub, in his criticism of the Federal Budget for 2025-26, called it a "banker's business strategy," implying that it is primarily focused on benefiting the financial sector.
- Ayub accused the government of creating a "giveaway" budget that benefits bank tycoons, increasing the nation's debt as a result.
- In the political arena, Ayub and his party comrades denounced the budget as unfair, alleging that it will lead to a spike in prices of basic necessities such as flour, sugar, and lentils.
- MNA Sanaullah Mastikhel, speaking against IPPs, asserted that they are "untouchable profiteers" who have exploited the nation for decades under various governments. He accused these energy corporations of receiving perks in the new budget, claiming it to be institutionalized daylight robbery.
