Islamabad : The pre-budget session of the Parliamentary Forum on Population (PFP) brought together more than 40 parliamentarians, including senators, MNAs, and MPAs from all provincial assemblies, Gilgit-Baltistan, and AJK, to deliberate on urgent fiscal and policy priorities ahead of the Federal Budget 2026-27, says a press release.
The session served as a key platform to translate political commitments on population stabilisation into concrete budgetary and legislative action. This multiparty session was convened by the Population Council with the support of UNFPA.
Senator Sherry Rehman, chairperson of the PFP, while chairing the session, underscored the urgency of addressing rapid population growth as a national priority. “Population is a ticking time bomb for every resource this country generates,” she said. She called for the immediate removal of the tax on contraceptives and stronger political ownership across all legislatures. She emphasised that population must be framed as both a national and family issue, requiring sustained attention in federal and provincial budget debates. She further called for sustained parliamentary oversight to ensure that pre-budget commitments are reflected in the Finance Bill and subsequent provincial allocations.
Delivering the keynote address, Adnan Pasha Siddiqui, advisor to the Minister of Finance on Special Initiatives, highlighted population growth as a central macroeconomic challenge. “Had population growth been better managed over the years, Pakistan’s GDP and per capita income would be significantly higher today,” he noted. He outlined key fiscal and structural reforms, including revisiting the NFC formula, strengthening fiscal prioritisation, and advancing a long-term National Population Stabilisation Programme. He also underscored the importance of parliamentary oversight of all programmes and plans to ensure effective implementation and accountability. He warned that unless structural fiscal incentives are corrected, population pressures will continue to undermine Pakistan’s long-term economic competitiveness and human capital development.
In his remarks, senior economist Dr. Hanid Mukhtar observed that Pakistan allocates only a modest share of public expenditure to population-related priorities despite the scale of the federal development budget, terming it “not a lack of resources, but a lack of fiscal priority.”
