By A Correspondent:

Islamabad/New Delhi: Pakistan‘s 2025 budget, long delayed, has finally dropped, with a stark irony at its core. While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) preaches fiscal discipline as a condition of its latest US$3 billion bailout, Pakistan has gone ahead and approved its biggest defence budget hike in a decade.

The Pakistan military’s allocation stands at PKR 2.55 trillion, a 20% surge from last year, now taking up 1.97% of GDP and a massive 14.51% of the federal budget.

Meanwhile, public spending on critical sectors like health and environment has been gutted—health slashed from PKR 52 million to just PKR 31 million, and environmental protection eliminated altogether.

This contradiction comes as the IMF presses Pakistan to cut tax exemptions, expand its tax base, and reduce non-development spending.

But the army, largely shielded from scrutiny, continues to operate behind a veil of secrecy. Key spending areas like civil works and operating expenses have jumped by over PKR 100 billion each. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s elite—many in uniform—continue to benefit from tax-free land deals and state-backed perks.

The Economic Survey paints a grim backdrop: a stagnant growth rate of just 1.6% over the last three years, a fiscal deficit stuck at 6% of GDP, and rising debt servicing costs that now consume a lion’s share of government revenue. This is Pakistan’s 25th IMF programme since 1958.

And yet, the IMF hasn’t pushed back on the ballooning defence budget. Why? Insiders suggest the Pakistan Army leveraged fears of conflict with India, especially post-Pahalgam strikes, to justify its demands. The fallout: a Field Marshal title for General Asim Munir and political cover for a defense-heavy fiscal agenda.

As Parliament rubber-stamps raises for top officials—some retroactive to January 2025—ordinary Pakistanis face higher taxes, fewer services, and a dimmer future. The military wins again. Everyone else pays the price.

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