ISLAMABAD: The Finance Ministry said on Monday that the presentation of the Federal Budget 2025-26 has been delayed from June 2 to June 10 due to disagreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over key budgetary figures, including subsidy allocations. During a session of the Sub-Committee of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Commerce, chaired by Khurshid Ahmed Junejo, Joint Secretary (Corporate Finance) Sajjad Azhar outlined the government’s challenges in revising the budget figures. The Sub-Committee is currently working to resolve the issue of outstanding receivables owed to the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), which total approximately Rs 317.5 billion. Of this, Rs 93.693 billion is principal, while Rs 223.797 billion is accrued markup. Aurangzeb says IMF case approved ‘on merit’ despite disruption attempts “As you know, Pakistan is under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility, which restricts any changes to the allocated funds in the budget,” Azhar told the sub-committee. “The budget announcement has been delayed by a week because the Finance Ministry’s figures are still under reconciliation. The IMF has placed a cap on subsidies,” he added. Azhar further noted that the IMF has declined to make any changes to the revised budget figures recently presented to the Fund’s team. The Sub-Committee held a detailed discussion on the TCP receivables. Tensions flared during the meeting between Sajjad Azhar and TCP Chairman Syed Rafeo Bashir Shah over the calculation of markup and loans obtained from commercial banks. Chairman Shah maintained that TCP distributed imported wheat and urea in line with Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) directives, yet payments remain outstanding since 2010. In response, Azhar stated that the ECC never approved covering the markup costs through the federal government. He added that the Finance Ministry has held five meetings with relevant stakeholders to reconcile the dues. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) was also approached to persuade commercial banks to…