Finance Bill 2026 laid before Senate amid opposition uproar

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minis­ter Mu­ham­mad Aurangzeb on Fri­day laid a copy of the Finance Bill 2026 containing the Annual Bud­get Statement before the Se­­nate amid a noisy protest by opposition members who cha­nted slogans rejecting the proposed budget.

Moving that the Senate make recommendations, if any, to the National Assembly on the bill as required under Article 73 of the Constitution, Mr Aurangzeb faced full-throated slogans from the opposition benches.

Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani said members could submit notices for proposals, with reasons, to the Senate secretary by June 15.

“These recommendations shou­­ld be with reference to the Finance Bill 2026 containing the Annual Budget Statement. Any recommendation having no relevance to the bill is outside the purview of Article 73 and hence not admissible,” the chairman explained.

Gilani sets June 15 deadline for proposals

Mr Gilani said that a member could not propose changes relating to expenditure charged upon the Federal Consolidated Fund under Article 82(1).

Proposals for the Finance Bill will be sent to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue.

Recommendations pertaining to the PSDP will go to the Standing Committee on Plann­ing, Development and Special Initiatives, which must forward them to the finance committee by June 17. The finance committee will incorporate those recommendations and present its report to the House by June 18.

The Senate will discuss the bill and adopt the committee’s report, making final recommendations to the National Assembly on June 19.

Parliamentary party leaders have been asked to provide names of their speakers in order of preference. As decided by the Business Advisory Committee, the Leader of the Opposition will open the budget debate. Party leaders may speak for up to 15 minutes, other members for up to 10 minutes.

The chairman said that guidelines for submitting budgetary recommendations had been placed on members’ desks, and the Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services had set up a budget desk at the National Assembly secretariat to assist lawmakers during the session. USB drives containing complete budget documents, provided by the government, were also placed on members’ tables.

At the outset, the Senate chairman welcomed Jian Chan, Jun Gochu and other delegates from the World Peace Forum of China.

The House will meet again on Monday at 12:30pm.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2026 ...