Elite Capture and Economic Myopia: A Critical Analysis of Pakistan's 2025-26 Budget

Pakistan's 2025-26 federal budget (Rs 17.57 trillion / $62 billion) exemplifies a profound misalignment between declared economic priorities and actual fiscal choices. Rather than serving as a blueprint for sustainable development, it entrenches elite privileges while imposing austerity on the masses and mortgaging the nation's future through unsustainable debt dynamics.