Shehbaz Sharif’s government has put forward a new budget for the upcoming fiscal year, setting off a debate on more taxes, government spending, and economic reforms. As parliament debates the budget, some things may change about the exact numbers. But to discuss what has been put on the table, Uzair spoke to Ammar H. Khan about what this budget signals and why it pursues a “deepening” of the tax net, as opposed to a widening.

We also talked about the energy sector and why prices are being reduced for industrial consumers of electricity, as well as Ammar’s views on what he calls the heartland strategy.

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

1:30 Budget takeaways

7:10 Pension reforms

10:30 Power subsidies

15:10 Inflation and salaried class

20:30 Digitization and taxes

26:16 Why are cash handouts criticized?

28:05 Electricity tariffs for industry

38:40 Heartland strategy and its issues