Pak media boycotts Finance Minister's post-budget interaction

Islamabad, June 11 Pakistani journalists on Wednesday boycotted the post-budget press conference held by the country's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in Islamabad, accusing the government of breaking a 20-year-old tradition by not holding a technical briefing on the federal budget 2025-2026.

Local media reports highlighted that journalists staged a walkout immediately after Aurangzeb began the press briefing. Several senior business journalists also chanted slogans and called for transparency and adherence to past practice. Their exit interrupted the briefing and sent a strong message about the feeling of discontentment that prevails in the country over the current budget.

The Federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar tried to de-escalate the situation, confirming that the absence of a technical session was a lapse and apologised on behalf of the government.

Meanwhile the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party rejected the budget completely, labeling it as "illegitimate" and "anti-people". The party denounced it as an "IMF-dictated budget" lacking public mandate.

"This is a fake government that has no authority to present a budget," said PTI's parliamentary committee in a statement, vowing not to accept the budget.

The Opposition leader in the Senate, Shibli Faraz, pointed out that the federal government had surpassed all previous records of elitist budgeting.

According to Pakistan's Express Tribune newspaper, Faraz said that the Afghan currency had gained more value compared to the Pakistani rupee, describing it as a sign of the government's failure.

Faraz further slammed the government's handling of the situation of inflation and taxation in the country. He remarked that the salaried class was facing relentless economic strain, stating, "as much blood as can be drawn from them is being drawn."

Criticising the budget, he raised a question as to how the country can progress if it is functioning on "IMF crutches".

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