Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday announced the cabinet's approval of supplementary finance bill — or the mini-budget as the opposition calls it — paving way for the bill to be presented in the National Assembly (NA).

       "The cabinet has approved the finance bill, which will now be introduced in the National Assembly," the information minister tweeted.

       The bill was originally scheduled to be presented in parliament on Wednesday but the cabinet had deferred its approval due to desiring a "threadbare discussion" on it.

       According to the agenda of the National Assembly for Thursday, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin will introduce the bill in the house to amend certain laws relating to taxes and duties [the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021].

       According to the agenda of the lower house, the bill will only be introduced, and not passed.

       Earlier in the day, a meeting of the parliamentary groups of parties included in the ruling alliance led by the PTI on the issue of the bill's passage was held.

       The opposition has already vowed to block the passage of the bill so fireworks are expected during today's NA session. The opposition has claimed that the bill will further increase inflation and add to people’s misery.

       The bill's approval is necessary to ensure Pakistan's sixth review of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility gets cleared by the International Monetary Fund’s executive board on January 12, paving the way for the disbursement of about $1bn tranche.

       PM unperturbed by opposition's claim of country being in danger

       Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan was dismissive of the opposition's claim that the government was in danger, saying "they make such statements every three months."

       In a brief interaction with reporters inside the parliament's premises following the cabinet meeting, the premier also played down the chances of PML-N leader and rival Nawaz Sharif returning to the country, saying: "We also used to hear in the past about [Nawaz Sharif's] return when he was in Saudi Arabia, but he only returned after a deal".

       When asked about a statement of the opposition leader in the National Assembly, Imran taunted that Shehbaz Sharif's speeches were more a "job application" than anything else.