No axe to fall on defence budget, decides cabinet.

The government has decided not to make any cuts in the country's defence budget, preferring instead to intend to increase it through the generation of more revenue.

'The country's defence budget is already low as compared to other states in the region, and therefore it should be increased,' said Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry in a post-cabinet meeting press conference on Thursday.

Asked about the government's austerity measures to reduce running expenditures by 10 per cent, he commented, 'Some people have problems about the defence budget and try to make it an issue.

'However, they don't know that our defence budget is already lower than that of other states in the region, including India.'

Further, he elaborated, 'We want to increase our defence and security; therefore we need to increase our defence budget and for that purpose we want to generate more revenue.'

Mr Chaudhry said that the government and army were enjoying a period of unprecedented coordination.

Balancing act

The information minister said that the cabinet meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan, lamented the arrest of PTI Punjab provincial minister Abdul Aleem Khan, terming it a 'balancing act' on the part of the National AccountaAbility Bureau (NAB) to justify its actions against leaders of opposition parties.

Read more: Khan's arrest not a balancing act: Fawad Chaudhry

'NAB should act on the basis of facts and justice and should avoid balancing acts under which innocent PTI leaders are being targeted,' he added.

Public accounts committee

The information minister said the federal cabinet reiterated that the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Shahbaz Sharif, who is also the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), was using the committee as a shield against the corruption cases against him. The cabinet was of the view that ethically, Mr Sharif was not entitled to head the PAC and must step down.

Mr Chaudhry presented the information that Prime Minister Khan took notice of the complaints of consumers regarding 'inflated' gas bills and ordered an external audit of bills over the last two months. Asked why the prime minister ordered an audit despite the fact that he himself [PM Imran Khan] approved new slabs of gas consumption price, being the head of the federal cabinet, the minister said that the government had decided to revise these.

According to the current price slabs, those who consume 5 Hm3 (500 cubic metres) and more will have...