PM Shehbaz addresses NEC meeting

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday addressed the National Economic Council (NEC), providing details on the government’s discussions as the current fiscal year nears a close.

The National Economic Council (NEC) met to finalise federal and provincial development plans ahead of the presentation of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year (FY2026-27). It is the highest economic decision-making forum of the federation, led by the premier and comprising the four chief ministers and four federal ministers.

“The Centre […] held consultations with the provinces on all matters with extreme seriousness, and we made decisions in the best interest of Pakistan,” PM Shehbaz said in remarks aired on television.

The prime minister thanked all chief ministers for their “consultations and assistance on all matters”.

PM Shehbaz noted that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz could not attend the meeting as she was recovering after her recent medical procedure.

During the meeting, the NEC was to review federal and provincial development plans worth Rs4.715 trillion for the next fiscal year amid conflicting fiscal needs of critical political and other institutional stakeholders.

The government has also summoned sessions of the National Assembly (NA) and Senate for 5pm and 4pm today, respectively.

A source in the NA Secretariat told Dawn that both sessions have been called budget sessions for 2026–27. However, it is expected that the budget will be presented in parliament on June 12.

NEC agenda

The NEC had a four-point agenda for the meeting. The first item pertained to a review of the Annual Plan 2025-26, approval of the Annual Plan 2026-27 and a presentation on key socio-economic indicators of the provinces.

This was to be followed by a review of Public Sector Investment (PSI) 2025-26, the proposed PSI 2026-27 and confirmation of changes made in the PSDP 2025-26 through addendums, corrigendums and adjustments on the directives of the prime minister, including a cut of around Rs175bn.

The meeting was also to include presentations on provincial annual development plans by the four chief secretaries.

The NEC was also expected to take up a progress report of the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, and schemes approved by the CDWP and the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) during the same period.

The meeting of the NEC, previously planned for June 8, was postponed for the third time at the last moment amid continuing negotiations over the freezing of provincial shares in the federal divisible pool under the National Finance Commission (NFC) award.