Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked provincial governments, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik, petroleum officials and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb for helping manage the economy during difficult circumstances.
He said government efforts had prevented shortages and queues at petrol stations, contrasting the situation with Sri Lanka.
PM Shehbaz later walked to the seats of Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai and PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan to shake hands with them.
Speaker Ayaz Sadiq provided details of participation in the budget debate, saying government members still had two-and-a-half hours of speaking time remaining.
He said 66 opposition lawmakers had taken part in the debate. While nine hours had been allocated to the opposition, its members had spoken for 14 hours and four minutes, exceeding their allotted time by five hours, three minutes and 28 seconds.
The speaker said opposition claims that they were not allowed to speak were contradicted by repeated invitations extended to members to participate in the debate.
He added that Thursday’s sitting had deliberately been extended by half an hour to accommodate additional speeches and that government members had also been invited to speak, but none had done so during the evening session.
Speaking during the debate, PPP lawmaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said an Iran-US agreement had demonstrated Pakistan’s desire for global peace and claimed Pakistan had helped avert a third world war.
He congratulated Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir and called for government employees’ salaries to be increased by 10 per cent, arguing that the proposed seven per cent raise was insufficient.
Ashraf said political stability, improved law and order, poverty reduction and consensus-based policymaking were essential for economic growth and foreign investment.
He also addressed the situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), saying he had served on a government negotiating team that accepted 80 per cent of protesters’ demands, while the issue of refugee seats remained unresolved.
According to Ashraf, electricity tariffs were reduced to Rs3 per unit and flour subsidies were granted as part of the negotiations. He called for the formation of another negotiating committee and urged both protesters and authorities to pursue dialogue.
Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai told the House that the day should not be used for political point-scoring and stressed that parliament, the military and national interests belonged to all Pakistanis.
He called for powers taken away from parliament to be restored and urged the prime minister to make decisions independently. Achakzai also criticised the suspension of lawmaker Iqbal Afridi for the duration of the budget session and appealed for the decision to be reversed. He said his party would provide unconditional support for strengthening parliament and democracy.
Following his remarks, the prime minister crossed the floor and held brief consultations with Achakzai, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb joined the discussions, after which the prime minister called him aside and issued instructions.
Separately, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also met opposition leaders at their seats in the House for consultations.