Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS), in collaboration with the European Union Funded Mustehkam Parlimaan (MuP) project organized a Pre-Budget Seminar for the Honorable Members of Senate and the National Assembly of Pakistan on Thursday, 22 May, 2025 at PIPS Islamabad. The Seminar provided a timely opportunity to strengthen Member’s understanding of key budgetary processes. Prom scrutinizing budget documents to ensuring gender-responsive allocations, the discussions equipped lawmakers with practical insights to engage more effectively in fiscal oversight.
The session was attended by 50 participants including 30 Honorable Members of the National Parliament. The seminar formally commenced with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran by Qari Anees Ahmad. Following that, Ms. Tehseen Khalid, Director Research PIPS, moderated the event and presented a brief overview of the importance of the event along with the introduction of the worthy panelists. Mr. Asim Khan Goraya, Executive Director PIPS, presented welcome remarks in which he thanked Honorable Members of Parliament for their participation in the event amid their occupied schedules. He highlighted the important role that well-informed parliamentary debates on budget play in promoting fiscal transparency, economic accountability and making policies focused on the welfare of the people. Ms. Brekhna Ajmal, Programme Manager, Parliaments and Gender Equality, European Union Delegation to Pakistan and Mr. Imran Ali, Key Expert, MuP, in their inaugural comments acknowledged the presence of the distinguished participants with gratitude, while briefly introducing the Mustehkam Parlimaan (MuP) project. They underscored the significance of grasping the process of national budget.
The first panelist, Mr. Zafar ul Hassan, Joint Chief Economist, Planning Commission of Pakistan apprised the participants on the role of Parliamentary Committees in scrutinizing the budget. The second panelist, Ms. Ayesha Javed, Deputy Secretary, Finance Division stressed the importance of gender mainstreaming in fiscal planning, taking into account the demographic reality that women comprise nearly half of the population of Pakistan. She also discussed the key role played by the Finance Division in managing the budget process. The third panelist, Dr. Wasim Shahid Malik, Former SBP Chair/PFM Consultant, MuP explained the Current State of Pakistan’s economy: Challenges and Opportunities. In a highly interactive session Dr. Waseem facilitated the Honourable Members of Parliament with a closer look at sectoral growth of Pakistan economy comparing yearly performance during FY 2022-23 to FY 2024-25. He gave historical context of the GDP Growth Rate of Pakistan over two and a half decades. He also acquainted the participants about Agriculture Growth Rate and Industrial Growth Rate and highlighted the poor performance of Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM) and its implications for the economic growth in Pakistan.
The fourth panelist, Mr. Muhammad Adnan Azeem, Chief Finance & Accounts Officer, National Assembly Secretariat talked on reading and analyzing the Budget Documents. His presentation included visual representation of important facts and figures on the budget and taxes, like Federal Receipts, Federal Expenditure, Current Expenditure Detail and Overall Fiscal Balance that made the session rich of information and interesting for the esteemed participants. While explaining the overall fiscal balance, Mr. Adnan apprised the participants about the current federal fiscal deficit, surplus at the provincial level and the overall primary balance.
Mr. Muhammad Rashid Mafzool Zaka, Director General of Research PIPS moderated the participant’s questions throughout the seminar as all the sessions were inclusive and participatory, where Honorable MPs were contributing through questions and opinions on the matters discussed by the facilitators. The discussions also touched upon the resource distribution among the Federation and the provinces, NFC award and the importance of financial independence of provinces. Honourable members expressed interest in holding additional session focused on understanding the budget in greater detail. Team PIPS assured them that a session will be arranged promptly after the budget is presented in the House.
The seminar ended with a vote of thanks from Mr. Muhammad Rashid Mafzool Zaka, DG (Research), PIPS to the Honorable Members of Parliament for their dedication and enthusiastic participation in the event.