Centre, provinces 'made decisions in the best interest of Pakistan', PM says after 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 CM Maryam Nawaz could not attend the meeting as she was recovering after her recent medical procedure. “Today, despite having to face big challenges, our economy is at stable at the macroeconomic level. But, injecting growth into this is an extremely important process,” the premier observed. “Advancing employment, production, exports and economic activity is our collective responsibility,” he said, adding that all governments tried their best to stay on track on the IMF programme despite “some difficult stages”. In his remarks, PM Shehbaz highlighted the recent “huge challenge” arising from the surge in global oil prices, which led to prices of petroleum products being increased. “It was not possible that the Centre and provinces could have dealt with the difficult period without cooperating with each other,” he noted, expressing his heartfelt gratitude to all four chief ministers for their assistance. “But before this provincial assistance, the Centre had already spent Rs128bn from its extremely limited resources,” he added. Highlighting that no “rationing or long queues” were seen after the Middle East conflict sparked, PM Shehbaz affi