By Haseeb Kiyani
After 79 years of independence, Pakistan is still struggling to achieve an economically stable and prosperous state. The dream of a prosperous Pakistan appears not only distant but also blurred and uncertain.
For any country aspiring to become a developed and strong state, a professional armed force is undoubtedly important; however, the second and equally critical pillar is economic strength.Pakistan has achieved significant successes on the defense front, but we remain far behind in building a strong economy.
After more than three-quarters of a century we still been unable to build an economy capable of standing firmly on its own feet.The annual national budget is, a reflection of a government’s economic vision and financial capacity.
By examining Pakistan’s current budget for 2026–27, one can gain an insight into the direction of government policy as well as the country’s overall economic capacity.Pakistan’s current budget is approximately PKR 18 trillion, representing the planned revenue and expenditure for the year.
Without going into the details of how this money will be generated, how much will be transferred to the provinces, or how much will be consumed by debt servicing, the fundamental question is: Is this amount sufficient for a country of Pakistan’s size and population?
To understand the scale of Pakistan’s budget, it is useful to compare it with the budgets of other variety of countries. For simplicity, if PKR 18 trillion is converted into US dollars, it is approximately USD 64 billion and the country’s population is approx. 250 million.
By comparison, India has approximately USD 561 billion for a population of around 1.48 billion; China approximately USD 3.9 trillion for 1.41 billion people; Brazil approximately USD 1.3 trillion for 214 million people; Japan approximately USD 785 billion for 123 million people; Germany approximately USD 607 billion for 84 million people; Saudi Arabia approximately USD 306 billion for 35 million people; the United States approximately USD 7 trillion for 348 million people; and the United Kingdom approximately USD 1.9 trillion for 70 million people.
These comparisons provide a broad indication of the enormous difference between Pakistan’s public financial capacity and that of many other countries.
Normally, an annual government budget is largely designed to meet recurring expenditures and finance a limited number of new projects.
This approach implicitly assumes that the basic service-delivery infrastructure schools, hospitals, roads, water and sanitation systems, law enforcement, employment opportunities, and other public services are already in place.
The annual budget is then primarily required to operate and maintain these systems. But is that assumption valid in Pakistan? the answer is clearly no.
Even if we assume that all these essential services and infrastructure were already available, an annual budget of PKR 18 trillion would still be a relatively modest amount for a country of Pakistan’s population.This brings us to the heart of the matter. Pakistan’s current budget raises two fundamental questions.
First, Is PKR 18 trillion enough for Pakistan? Second, If it is not enough, how much money does Pakistan actually require?The first question is relatively easy to answer: PKR 18 trillion is not enough to meet all of Pakistan’s development and service-delivery needs. The second question, however, is far more complicated.
How much would Pakistan require to provide quality education to millions of children, including those currently out of school? How much would be needed to establish healthcare services in every Union Council? What would it cost to provide safe drinking water and adequate sanitation to every household?
How much investment is required to connect every village and town through roads, transportation, electricity, digital connectivity, climate change and other infrastructure?
Similarly, what resources are needed to create sufficient employment opportunities, strengthen law and order and policing, expand social protection programs, modernize agriculture and industry, strengthen the armed forces, promote science and technology, support innovation and research, and invest in future economic opportunities?
The list goes on.To cater that, Pakistan needs a huge and comprehensive, country-level planning exercise to establish economic and governance goals.
Only after determining these requirements, we can answer the most important question: HOW MUCH MONEY DOES PAKISTAN ACTUALLY NEED TO BECOME A PROSPEROUS, STABLE, SECURE AND DEVELOPED COUNTRY?
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