Islamabad, Jun 9 (PTI) Cash-strapped Pakistan on Friday hiked defence spending by 15.5 per cent and allocated over Rs 1.8 trillion, as the government unveiled a Rs 14.4 trillion budget for 2023-24 as it battled to fend off a looming default due to shrinking foreign reserves.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who presented the budget in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, said the government will target a growth rate of 3.5 per cent in the coming fiscal year.
“This budget should not be seen as an ‘election budget’ – it should be seen as a ‘responsible budget’,” Dar said as the political parties were getting ready for the next general elections scheduled for later this year, amidst political turmoil following the ouster Imran Khan as the prime minister in April last year.
