Lahore:
The HRCP criticized the federal budget 2025-26, calling it regressive and detached from the lived realities of the working class of Pakistan and the marginalized communities.
During a press briefing held in Lahore on Tuesday, the Commission expressed that the new budgetary plan – strongly shaped by the conditions of the IMF and the austerity measures – does not take up the serious socio -economic challenges faced by low -income households in the midst of a cost of life crisis.
Although the budget includes a modest reduction in income tax rates for employees, HRCP officials declared that this decision did not do much to restore the eroded purchasing power of workers whose income was decimated by prolonged inflation from 2022 to 2024.
The government’s decision is particularly worrying to maintain the federal minimum wage at Rs37,000 per month – a figure which, according to the Commission, is insufficient to support a family of six people.
Even in the provinces such as Punjab and KP, where the minimum wage has been increased to RS40,000, the hike is far from adequate when it is adjusted for inflation, HRCP said.
