Ministry of Finance rejects ‘misleading’ reports of Dar taking over budget-making process

The Ministry of Finance on Thursday dismissed reports that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif handed the budget-making process to Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, calling the claims “factually incorrect” and “misleading”.

“The Ministry of Finance strongly rejects the misleading and speculative impression created by the Express Tribune story titled ‘PM hands budget-making to Dar’, published on May 14, 2026,” read the clarification.  

The ministry said that the story “incorrectly portrays the constitution of a high-level review committee by the Prime Minister as a ‘handover’ of the budget-making process from the Finance Division or as a ‘sidelining’ of the finance minister”.

“This interpretation is factually incorrect, misleading and does not reflect the actual mandate or functioning of the committee,” it said.

The ministry informed that the committee constituted has been tasked with reviewing and analysing certain tax policy proposals prepared by the Tax Policy Office in the context of the upcoming budget.

“Such consultative and inter-ministerial review mechanisms are neither unusual nor extraordinary, “ it said.

The ministry was of the view that the prime minister, as head of the government, “is fully within his constitutional and administrative authority to seek broader input from relevant cabinet members before finalisation of tax proposals that may impact businesses, inflation, investment climate and the wider economy”.

It reiterated that “at no stage has the budget-making process been shifted away from the Ministry of Finance or the Finance Division”.

It added that the preparation of the federal budget continues to be undertaken by the Ministry of Finance under the leadership of Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.

The ministry said that Aurangzeb is also a member of the committee constituted by the prime minister and continues to lead Pakistan’s engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international financial institutions on all budgetary and macroeconomic matters.

“Similarly, the committee relating to enforcement measures has been formed only to refine and strengthen revenue administration and enforcement proposals in consultation with relevant stakeholders.

“Such coordination mechanisms are a normal feature of governance and fiscal management,” it added.

The ministry said that the federal budget remains a collective constitutional and cabinet-driven exercise with the Ministry of Finance playing its central and mandated institutional role.

“The ministry expects responsible sections of the media to avoid speculative interpretations and to report institutional processes with accuracy, context and due professional responsibility,” it concluded.