Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif gave information in the Parliament about the budget presented by his government and the Iran-US deal. Khawaja Asif admitted that Pakistan’s economy was in ICU for the last few days, which is now slowly getting back on track. The Government of Pakistan recently presented a budget of 18.77 lakh crore (18.77 trillion) Pakistani rupees for the financial year 2026-27, the largest part of which will be spent on repaying old loans and their interest.

We were bankrupt: Khawaja Asif

According to the report of Pakistani newspaper Dawn, Khawaja Asif said on Tuesday (16 June 2026), ‘Our economy has now come to life. She has come out of ICU. When we presented the first budget, we were already bankrupt. There was always a threat that we would go bankrupt sooner or later. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescued us from the economic crisis with strict conditions, which we are now following, but now we have become financially capable.

Gave advice to his own government regarding tax

He said, ‘I will not say that we are touching sky-high heights, but our progress is a testimony to the fact that in a year or two we will reach a point where Pakistan will achieve a growth rate of 6-7 percent.’ He said that there are many underlying taxes in the country and we have to get rid of all these things to be economically efficient. He said that the tax rate should be brought to a level where the entire country is ready to pay it, rather than making it so high that no one can pay it.

Khawaja Asif’s statement on Balochistan issue

Khawaja Asif said, ‘Why should we force people to find ways to evade taxes? We should bring taxes to such a level that a conducive environment is created where people pay taxes with pride. Regarding Balochistan, he said that this situation did not happen yesterday or the day after, but many people have contributed to it. He said, ‘This problem is not of any one party or any one province. If there are problems in Balochistan, I think it is our collective responsibility. Its solution should be such that it is acceptable to the people of Balochistan, whether they are Baloch or Pashtun.

Khawaja Asif once said that only Army Chief Asim Munir has the right to take major decisions in Pakistan. He said in Parliament, ‘Islamabad facilitated the agreement between America and Iran. The credit for this goes to the military leadership and PM Shahbaz Sharif. The whole of Pakistan should be grateful to him.