Federal Budget analyzed

Maintaining its annual tradition, IPS constituted a Special Task Force to analyze the Federal Budget announced for fiscal year 2005-06. Members included senior economists, intellectuals, practitioners and representatives of the business community. The task force held a detailed session on June 13, the deliberations of which were compiled in a report.

The report critically evaluated the budget preparation process, which failed to ensure adequate participation by the Parliament. It appreciates the Government’s admission of high inflation and the increasing trade deficit, but warns that many other supposedly “positive” results reported by the Government are actually worrying when seen in perspective of the GDP and regional and international trends. Moreover, poverty and concentration of wealth are on the rise, and meaningful economic activities had not been undertaken, despite relatively unchanged economic leadership under the current regime. (The full text of the report is available at www.ips.org.pk)