ISLAMABAD: The government will present the Finance Supplementary Bill (mini-budget) today in the National Assembly to pave the way for the sixth review of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF). Approval for the mini-budget was one of the conditions of the IMF to disburse the $1 billion tranche from the $6 billion EFF.
Prior to the National Assembly session, Prime Minister Imran Khan has called a meeting at Parliament House which will be attended by all coalition parties at 2PM. The agenda of the meeting, chaired by Mr Khan, is to form a strategy to overcome the resistance by the opposition.
According to the sources, the senior leadership of PTI has been in talks with alliances to gain their support for the mini-budget approval. Lawmakers representing the government have already formed the legal framework to handle any potential obstruction by the opposition wing.
The opposition leaders have also prepared to block the way of the supplementary bill, as they plan to register protests both outside and inside the National Assembly. Shehbaz Sharif and other prominent leaders of the opposition will lead the protests.