A Parliamentary Seminar on State Of Economy and Annual Budget for honorable Members of Provincial Assembly of the Punjab was organized by Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS) in collaboration with EU funded Project “Mustehkam Parlimaan” in Avari Hotel, Lahore on Wednesday, June 22, 2022.

The seminar proceedings began with the recitation of Holy Quran. The first session, on Key Economic Challenges of Pakistan with a focus on Punjab Economy was facilitated by Dr. Waseem Shahid Malik, SBP Chair of Economics in Peshawar University / Adjunct Faculty of PIPS since 2014 who conducted an absorbing interactive session on state and challenges of economy and presented the picture of Punjab Economy deliberating on data based evidence. He compared sectoral shares of economy and stressed that Punjab should impart more in agriculture and industry to achieve sustainable and real economic growth as well as putting forth the debt situation which is consuming a major chunk of national income in shape of debt servicing.

Mr. Dawood Ahmed, PFM Expert, Mustehkam Parlimaan, deliberated on issues pertaining to issues and challenges of National Finance Commission and Budget Books particularly  salient features of Annual Budget Statements and Budget in Brief. In the last session, Mr. Aizaz Asif, PFM Expert from Mustehkam Parlimaan highlighted available parliamentary authority especially with regard to role of parliamentary committees in actual participation during all steps of budget making, authorization and scrutiny of various ministries throughout the year.

Honourable MPAs took overwhelming part in the discussion through an interactive Q&A Session. The seminar was attended by 42 participants including honourable MPAs, Mr. Kashif Ali Chishti, Ch. Javed Kausar, Mr. Awais Dareshak, Ms. Raheela Naeem, Ms. Shazia Abid, Syed Usman Mehmood, Ms. Talat Mehmood, Ms. Rashda Yaqub, Mr. Agha Ali Haider, Ms. Hira Butt, Syed Yawar Bukhari, Ms. Hina Butt, Mr. Muneeb ul Haq, Mr Ahmed Nadeem, Rana Shahbaz Ahmed, Ms Haseena Bhegam as well as officials of PIPS and Mustehkam Parlimaan.

The event organizing team was comprised of Mr. Muhamamd Rizwan Manzoor Assistant Director PIPS, Mr. Faisal Buttar, Coordinator EU-Mustehkam Parlimaan, Mr. Wajid Aslam, PIPS PRC Officer, and Mr. Qaiser Nisar Office Assistant PIPS PRC Lahore.