ISLAMABAD: The PTI has alleged that the government is set to present its fifth budget without reforms, claiming that IMF approval is now required even for routine fiscal decisions.

In a statement, PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram claimed that no serious effort had been made over the past five years to cut the cost of governance, reduce wasteful spending or address structural inefficiencies.

He said the public had been repeatedly asked to accept eroded incomes, shrinking job opportunities and diminished purchasing power in the name of stability.

In return, the country had rece­ived anaemic growth, capital flight, falling investment and an economy steadily losing ground to its regional competitors, he claimed.

Akram said the much-publicised provincial surpluses were “little more than an accounting device”.

“By forcing provinces to surrender resources to improve federal optics, the budget deprives schools, hospitals and local infrastructure of funds at a time when both education and health services are under severe strain,” he said.

He said the expansion of cash transfer schemes was being presented as a gesture of compassion. “It is, in fact, an open admission that the underlying model has failed so thoroughly that large sections of the population must now be kept on permanent state support to avoid outright destitution,” he said.

Akram also expressed grief over the vehicle-borne suicide attack on a passenger train in Quetta, extending condolences to the families of the victims. He termed the attack a “clear and damning indictment” of the failure of the federal and provincial governments’ security apparatus.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2026