A budget to forget (opens original article in a new tab)

The budget fails to deliver on fiscal equity, social progress, and economic reforms, maintaining elite bias and provincial inequities while prioritizing indirect taxes and underfunding critical sectors.

• Budget fails to address fiscal equity and progressivity with tax ratios shifting towards indirect taxes
• Deficit target of 3.6% of GDP achieved through provincial spending cuts and expropriation of surpluses
• Health and education spending ratios remain low compared to Asian peers
• Industrial and export sector support lacks comprehensive policies and structural reforms
• Budget maintains elite bias and fails on most key aims of good governance