Govt may delay budget presentation due to Eid holidays

ISLAMABAD: The federal government could further delay the presentation of Budget 2025–26 due to the scheduled Eid ul Adha holidays, sources said.

As Eid is likely to fall on June 7 and 8, sources familiar with the development suggest that June 9 — the third day of Eid — may be declared a working day to accommodate key economic events.

According to the tentative schedule, both the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting and the release of the Economic Survey 2025 are currently set for June 9.

However, finance ministry sources say it will be unfeasible to conduct both the NEC meeting and the Economic Survey launch on June 9.

The NEC meeting, which typically spans the entire day, finalises the federal and provincial development programmes and is attended by the chief ministers of all four provinces, the prime minister of Azad Kashmir, and representatives from Gilgit-Baltistan.

Traditionally, a two-day gap is observed between the NEC meeting and the formal presentation of the federal budget in parliament.

In light of this, officials suggest that the budget may now be presented on June 12, two days later than the currently expected June 10.

A few days back, the federal government had postponed the budget presentation from the initially planned June 2 to June 10, citing unresolved fiscal targets in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.