Pakistan proposed an 18.77 trillion rupees ($67.49 billion) Budget on Friday, raising defence spending, limiting development expenditure and setting a steep tax target as the government tries to keep its IMF programme on track without provoking political fallout at home. Pakistan proposed an 18.77 trillion rupees ($67.49 billion) budget on Friday, raising defence spending, limiting development expenditure and setting a steep tax target as the government tries to keep its IMF programme on track without provoking political fallout at home. (REUTERS File) Finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told parliament the government would allocate 3 trillion rupees for defence in the fiscal year starting July, up 18% from the outgoing year, while setting federal development spending at 1 trillion rupees. The defence increase followed talks with provinces over pooling fiscal space for security needs, with provincial development plans also cut back before the budget. “Defence spending has been increased considerably to make the country invincible due to the uncertainty in the region,” Aurangzeb said. The budget shows how little room Pakistan has to manoeuvre as debt payments, …