Staff Reports
Pakistan’s parliament has approved the FY2026–27 federal budget that boosts the defense line to about PKR 3 trillion — even as aid groups and official surveys warn that more than 26 million children are not in school. That contrast tells you everything you need to know about the country’s priorities: big checks for the military, tiny scraps for schools. It’s a policy choice with real costs for Pakistan’s future.
Budget priorities: guns over books
The new budget’s headline is the rise in defense spending. The federal outlay runs to roughly PKR 18.77 trillion, and the military slice equals a very large share of that. Debt servicing is massive too — about PKR 8.054 trillion — leaving little room for building human capital. Higher education gets around PKR 46 billion; health line items are only in the tens of billions. Meanwhile, social protection programs rose modestly to PKR 838 billion. In short: debt and defense soak up the lion’s share of the money, and the parts of the budget that lift people out of poverty get the short end.
Where the money went — and what it means
Put plainly, defense plus debt servicing and pensions already consume more than half of federal spending. That math squeezes development budgets to the margins. The result is predictable: Pakistan’s official numbers and UNICEF both flag an education emergency. Millions of children remain out of school. Literacy and basic reading skills lag. You can throw money at national security hardware, but neglect education and you sabotage long‑term stability and growth. That’s not just bad economics; it’s poor strategy.
Why this matters — and what a conservative approach would demand
Strong defense is essential. No serious conservative disputes that. But defense should not become an excuse to ignore waste and failure elsewhere. A country that underinvests in schooling is storing up future instability. The security angle used to justify big military budgets only holds if the state also wins hearts and minds — and you win those by educating children, creating jobs, and restoring faith in institutions. Lawmakers in Islamabad should focus on cutting waste, insisting on audit and accountability, and shifting money to proven, high‑impact education reforms: targeted transfers, school choice and accountability, and scaled vocational training for young people who need work now.
A better balance
There is a sensible, conservative case for a balanced budget that defends the nation while building its future. Right now the balance is off. If Pakistan wants safety that lasts, it must stop treating the budget like a zero‑sum game that pits soldiers against students. Lawmakers should stop applauding big defense numbers while turning away from the classroom. Otherwise, the country will keep buying security with one hand and losing the next generation with the other — and no amount of armor will protect a country that loses its children.
