• Economic Survey shows major targets missed as Aurangzeb claims resilience amid three major shocks • Says budget to offer incentives for agriculture, housing • Over Rs900bn to be diverted for Centre’s strategic needs • Centralised tax system, retailer model to be announced • Oil price impact to continue next year • Current account deficit falls to $252m; remittances may reach $41-42bn by year-end • Fiscal deficit falls to 0.7pc of GDP; debt-to-GDP ratio drops to 68.5pc • FBR recovers Rs94bn through digitisation, AI audits ISLAMABAD: The freeze on provincial development programmes, expected to generate more than Rs900 billion in additional resources for the Centre’s strategic needs, will continue for a specific period beyond one year, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Wednesday as he unveiled the Pakistan Economic Survey 2025-26 , which showed missed targets across major economic sectors in the outgoing fiscal year. Reviewing the economic report card, the minister said the economy grew by 3.7 per cent this year — almost the same as the 3.6pc reported at this stage last year, later revised down to 3.2pc — reflecting resilience and economic stability in the face of three major exogenous shocks: global trade and tariff challenges at the beginning of the fiscal year, floods in Pakistan and, finally, regional war-related pressures. Aurangzeb, who was flanked by the ministers for planning and information, the minister of state for finance and the railways minister, said he would explain in detail in his budget speech the mechanism for utilisation of additional resources secured from the provinces through the development freeze.