Budget Special: Reading between the lines.

Next year's budget has something for everyone - from laptops for students to tax relief for the inflation-stricken salaried class, savers and small business owners to loans for youth to salary bumps for civil servants to sales tax cuts for the agriculture and industry and finally, petroleum levy as part of massive fiscal consolidation for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The first budget of the two-month-old coalition, which Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said a day earlier could be it's last before the next election, isn't a 'reform' budget. Nor does it seek to permanently tackle the inherent structural imbalances in the economy, which every few years lead to an economic bust following each short boom and brings Pakistan back to the IMF's doors for its bailout.

Expecting major reforms from the PML-N, or any other party for that matter, at a time when it is faced with a major political challenge from its adversary, Imran Khan's PTI, trying to force an early election in the country would be naive. Then, who said the PML-N is known for undertaking reforms? Or we might not be facing this day today.

At best, the budget targets near-term challenges facing the nation and is an attempt to steer the flagging economy out of its current crisis through the revival of the suspended IMF bailout package that would also unlock financing from the other bilateral and multilateral lenders and ease Pakistan's balance of payments difficulties.

The lacklustre budget has populist measures but its projected numbers are blind to the realities of elevated oil prices that can snowball into higher inflation

At the same time, it should be recognised that it puts a little bit of cash in the pockets of the low to middle-income groups of society to somewhat offset the impacts of the surging fuel and power prices while shifting part of the burden of the IMF-mandated stabilisation plan on to the affluent classes.

That it still proposes to recover around Rs135 billion through taxes on real estate holdings of the rich and Rs18bn from their foreign assets, and collect Rs38bn from all persons - high-net-worth individuals and businesses - with income exceeding Rs300 million and Rs30bn from retailers should be appreciated.

Likewise, it has done well by slapping 10 per cent duty on the imports of motor spirit under the Free Trade Agreement with China. The action will yield Rs30bn. In all, the coalition has imposed new, mostly direct, taxes of Rs440bn on the wealthy while...