'Everyone will be happy' with budget 2021-22, says PM Imran Khan

• PM Imran Khan to chair meeting of parliamentarians belonging to PTI's coalition parties. 
• PM to take parliamentarians into confidence over issues of national importance, development budget. 
• Opposition to hold meeting of its parliamentary leaders to discuss budget at 3:00pm today. 

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan hosted parliamentarians belonging to the government's coalition parties for lunch today (Friday), where important issues relating to the country's political situation and the budget will be discussed. 

A journalist asked the premier whether the budget, which will be presented later in the day, will be a "people-friendly" one. 

"Today, everyone will be happy," said the prime minister in response. 

PM Khan will chair the meeting of the parliamentarians at 2:00pm. As per latest reports, senators and MNAs from the coalition parties arrived at the Parliament House, where the meeting will be held. 

Sources said the prime minister will take parliamentarians of the PTI's coalition parties into confidence over the development budget and other matters of national importance. 

The government's economic team will also give a briefing to the parliamentarians on the federal budget. 

Sources said mobile phones and women's purses will be kept outside the meeting room. 

Opposition expected to take important decisions on budget

On the other hand, the Opposition will hold a meeting of its parliamentary members as well at 3:00pm. PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif will chair the meeting, which will also include participants from the PPP. 

PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and the PML-N leadership have recently traded barbs at each other, ever since the PPP quit the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) after being issued show-cause notices by the PDM. 

Sources said important decisions related to the budget are expected to be taken in the meeting. 

PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb had said earlier that the government had admitted in the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2021 that inflation and unemployment had increased in Pakistan. 

"Imran Khan should have resigned [as the prime minister] before the survey was released," she had said.