Today, the National Assembly officially starts the budget approval process.

Today, Sunday, the National Assembly is set to formally begin the process of approving the government budget for the next fiscal year.

The National Assembly will hear 135 grant requests totalling more than PKR 104.14 trillion from Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb for final clearance.

It is anticipated that 88 of these requests, totalling more than Rs 43.85 trillion, will be approved without any reduction motions. But the opposition is getting ready to use detailed cut motions to contest a sizable chunk of the budget.

Details show that 587 cut motions on 47 proposals totalling more than Rs 60.29 trillion would be submitted by opposition MPs.

During the process, a number of ministries and divisions are also being examined. There are 91 cut motions on 19 demands that the Cabinet Secretariat and its affiliated departments must deal with. There will be 116 cut motions to discuss the six demands of the Energy Division, which total more than Rs 661.26 billion.

The Ministry of Interior would be exposed to 123 reduction motions on four claims totalling more than Rs 74.35 billion, while the Ministry of Finance itself will face 100 cut motions on demands over Rs 42.82 trillion.

Additionally, the opposition will bring 45 cut motions for the Poverty Alleviation Division, which has allocations above Rs 859 billion across three demands.

Over the next few days, the assembly is anticipated to continue the budget approval process amid in-depth discussion, examination, and political contestation.