F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD : President Asif Ali Zardari has signed the Finance Bill 2025-26 into law, formally finalizing the process of approving the budget. With the president’s signature, the new budget would take effect at midnight tonight.
The National Assembly Secretariat had sent the bill to the President’s House to fulfill the constitutional requirement of presidential assent following its approval.
Today, President Zardari signed the finance bill, thereby approving it. During approval process, the National Assembly passed 10 complete and 2 partial amendments proposed by the government.
The opposition’s 78 proposed amendments were rejected by the House. Following the President’s approval, the Finance Bill 2025-26 would take effect from July 1.
After President Asif Ali Zardari’s assent, the bill has been sent for gazette notification.
It merits mentioning that the National Assembly on June 26 approved the federal budget for the fiscal year 2025-26, amounting to Rs17,573 billion, rejecting all cut motions presented by the Opposition.
Passed by a majority vote during the budget session, the Finance Bill 2025 marks a major step in the government’s economic planning for the upcoming year.
Following the budget approval, the National Assembly session has been adjourned until 11:00am tomorrow (Friday).
The clause-wise approval process of the federal budget 2025-26 was commenced in the National Assembly, with Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq in the chair. Finance Minister Aurangzeb presented motions for the approval of the Finance Bill in the assembly while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was also present in the House.
Several amendments were proposed by Opposition benches, with Mubeen Arif and Aaliya Kamran urging that public opinion be sought on the bill and that it be delayed until such input is received – their proposal was rejected.
Also, an opposition amendment – seeking to postpone the bill’s approval and refer it for public opinion – was rejected by a majority vote.
As the Finance Bill has been passed, it enables the government to implement its financial agenda for the new fiscal year starting July 1.