ISLAMABAD:
Journalists briefly boycotted Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s post-budget press conference on Wednesday after the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) broke
with a decades-old tradition by failing to provide a technical briefing on the Finance Bill.
The boycott forced a delay in the press conference as finance ministry officials attempted to convince reporters to return – without success. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar eventually intervened and managed to resolve the standoff, allowing the briefing to proceed.
Journalists protested the absence of the customary technical session, saying such briefings had been provided consistently for over 20 years.
The omission this year was seen as a serious breach of transparency.
Later, the finance minister sent the relevant officials to persuade the journalists, but to no avail. When the matter became serious, Tarar reached ‘P’ Block, where the press conference was being held, and resolved the matter.
