Pakistan, June 18 -- Punjab's Budget 2026-27, presented by Finance Minister Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman in the Provincial Assembly, reflects the provincial government's effort to combine fiscal discipline with an expansive social and development agenda. With a total outlay of Rs 5,903.5 billion, the budget is the largest in Punjab's history and represents a 10.7 per cent increase over the previous fiscal year. More than a statement of accounts, it offers a clear indication of the government's priorities under Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif: public welfare, infrastructure development, human capital investment and economic modernisation.

A notable feature of the budget is the continuation of the government's policy of avoiding new tax...