The federal government would present the annual budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 in the National Assembly on June 12 (Wednesday).

A meeting of the chief whips of all political parties in Parliament discussed the schedule for the upcoming budget session. The session is expected to take a break from June 13 to 19, said a press release.

It will resume on June 20, with dates from June 20 to 24 allocated for the general discussion on the budget. The debate on cut motions is scheduled for June 26 and 27, while June 28 is designated for the discussion and approval of the Finance Bill.

The current session of the National Assembly is expected to continue until June 29.

Additionally, it was agreed to continue the debate on the President’s address on June 6 and 7. The chief whips also discussed the formation of standing committees and the House Business Advisory Committee.

Pakistan’s financial year runs from July to June and its budget for fiscal year 2025, the first by Sharif’s new government, has to be presented before June 30.

The budget was originally due to be presented on June 7 but was delayed because of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Beijing from June 4-8, Reuters last week reported while quoting two sources, a top finance ministry official and an official close to the prime minister.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, who is accompanying Sharif to Beijing, will present the budget, which the finance ministry official said would be one of the “most crucial” ahead of a new loan from the IMF.

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An IMF mission held two weeks of technical and policy level talks with Pakistani officials before it left last week to discuss fiscal consolidation measures to lay the groundwork for the new loan.

The talks made significant progress towards reaching a staff-level agreement for an extended fund facility, the IMF said after they concluded.

The IMF had opened discussions on the new loan after Islamabad completed a short-term $3 billion programme which helped stave off a sovereign debt default last summer.