PM Shehbaz reassures Bilawal of resolving PPP’s concerns over Budget 2024-25

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to ease out political tensions among ruling coalition partners over the matter of federal budget 2024-25, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday assured Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari of taking steps to address the key ally’s reservations on multiple issues.

The assurance was given during a delegation-level meeting held between the ruling coalition partners — Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the PPP — in the federal capital after the latter lodged a token protest during the recent National Assembly session last week as Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb had unveiled budget 2024-25.

Federal ministers Ishaq Dar, Rana Sanaullah, Attaullah Tarar, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Ali Pervaiz Malik and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb attended the huddle. From PPP’s side, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Khursheed Shah and Sherry Rehman participated in the meeting.

Party sources told media that Bilawal shared with PM Shehbaz his party’s “reservations” on behalf of his party which is the key ally of the incumbent PML-N administration in the Centre. Although the PPP has not become part of the federal cabinet, the party supported the PML-N-led in forming government after the February 8 elections.

The prime minister highlighted that the macroeconomic indicators with regard to the country’s economy were showing encouraging growth while historic boom in the stock market was the endorsement of the government’s budget by the business community.

He said all political parties should work together for the country’s development, prosperity and public welfare. He said that in the budget 2024-25, steps were taken to provide maximum relief to the people. It was agreed in the meeting that further consultation would continue through parliamentary committees.

During the meeting, the insiders said Bilawal voiced his reservations over the federal government’s “non-seriousness” towards different projects in the PPP-led Sindh.

They added that the PPP chief complained to the premier about its administration for not taking his party’s confidence in decision-making, including the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) and budget proposals.

It also emerged that both sides discussed the PPP’s inclusion in the federal cabinet and power-sharing in Punjab during the meeting which was also attended by senior leaders.

Bilawal also complained that the ruling party failed to implement the agreement reached with his party, wherein the former supported the latter in the formation of a coalition government, the sources added.

Moreover, the PPP chief also accused Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz-led administration of creating hurdles for his party in Punjab, the sources said adding that Premier Shehbaz agreed on most of the concerns raised by Bilawal and formed separate committees to address those complaints.

The sources said that the committees will hold more rounds of talks tomorrow to take forward the matters. As per the sources, the PPP chief also assured the premier that his party will help the federal government in passage of the federal budget from parliament.

Commenting on the meeting, PPP leader Senator Saleem Mandviwalla told Geo News that the Bilawal-led party agreed to support the PML-N-led federal government to the extent of the Finance Bill 2024-25 and it is in contact with the finance minister. However, both sides were still due to discuss some political matters, he added.

Earlier, the PPP censured the PML-N-led government in the Centre for taking a “solo flight” and not taking it into confidence over the budget.

The Bilawal-led party had even announced boycotting the budget session last week — a decision the party recanted after Deputy Prime Minister Senator Dar held multiple meetings with the PPP’s top leaders to convince them otherwise last week on June 12.

For the ruling party, it is important to have the PPP’s support as the PM Shehbaz-led coalition government does not have the luxury of a parliamentary majority to help it pass the budget smoothly.

The government has less than two weeks to get parliamentary approval as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has told the Pakistani authorities to include its guidelines in the budget.

Pakistan has approached the Washington-based lender for a new bailout package while the taxation measures announced by Federal Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb in the budget have been rejected by the trade bodies. However, the government has clarified that it has to meet the revenue targets to get the loan from the IMF.