اردو
  • PM lauds as military refuses increment in defence budget

    COAS Bajwa with PM Imran Khan File Photo COAS Bajwa with PM Imran Khan

    In an unprecedented move for the betterment of national economy, Pakistan’s armed forces have decided to not to receive an increased share under defence budget.

    The announcement was made by the Prime Minister Imran Khan in his latest Twitter message. PM Khan said that the top brass of Pakistan military decided a make a ‘voluntary initiative’ for not receiving any rise under defence budget.

    The premier praised the military troops for its decision. PM Khan said that he appreciates Pakistan military for ‘unprecedented voluntary initiative of stringent cuts in their defence expenditures for next FY [fiscal year] bec [because] of our critical financial situation, despite multiple security challenges.’

    The premier announced to spend the saved money for the development of merged tribal areas (erstwhile Federal Administered Tribal Areas) and specifically Balochistan.

    Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Chaudhry, termed the move as an example of strong civil-military coordination to take out the country from severe crisis in term of governance and economy.

    “Not a small step at all, only a strong Civil-Mily Coordination can rescue Pakistan from the deep problems of Governance and economy … shows a complete trust on the leadership of PM by an important institution,” the minister said in his Twitter message.

    Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired a meeting of his economic team in Islamabad to discuss budget for the next fiscal year.

    The meeting discussed key features of Pakistan’s federal budget for the fiscal year 2018-19.

    The government will announce its budget for the new fiscal year on Tuesday, June 11.

    The officials gave detailed briefing to Prime Minister Imran Khan regarding the revenue and expenditures and the state of the economy.