Scotland’s Finance Secretary has requested an urgent meeting with the Chancellor amid reports she will raise taxes in her Budget this month.

Shona Robison set out what she said were three tests Rachel Reeves must meet when she delivers her tax and spending plans on November 26.

They include ditching her fiscal rules and delivering investment “to grow the economy and support people with the cost of living”, ensuring “every penny” raised from any tax rises is reinvested in public services with consequential funding to Scotland and a promise the Budget will not amount to austerity and cuts for Holyrood.

It comes after a pre-Budget speech from the Chancellor in which she failed to rule out tax rises, warning she will have to make “necessary choices” after the “world has thrown more challenges our way”.

Reports later suggested the Chancellor could raise income tax. The Fraser of Allander Institute has estimated a 2p hike could cut Scotland’s budget by £1 billion.

The Finance Secretary said: “The Chancellor’s unexpected Downing Street speech has fuelled speculation and piled uncertainty on uncertainty about Labour tax hikes in the upcoming UK Budget, with a potential price tag of £1 billion for Scotland.

“Let me be clear: Scotland should not be left paying the price for Labour’s broken promises.”

Ms Robison said last year’s Budget was a “disaster” for the Chancellor, “taxing jobs, (the) vulnerable and doing nothing on child poverty”.

She said she had requested an urgent meeting with her, where she would set out her three tests.

She said: “This year, I am setting three tests the UK Budget must meet – and the first is that the Chancellor must ditch her outdated, restrictive fiscal rules.  The era in which these rules were set is over and Rachel Reeves must face up to the new reality.

“And crucially, every single penny raised from any Labour tax rises must be invested into public services with consequential funding for Scotland.

“Rachel Reeves must also confirm that Scotland will not see our funding cut as a result of Labour decisions.

“They came to office promising an end to austerity, so to impose it on Scotland would be a political betrayal from which Labour would never recover.

“I have requested an urgent meeting with the Chancellor and will be clear to her that her Budget must meet these three key tests.

“But the chaos and confusion coming out of the UK Government this week is just confirmation that Scotland shouldn’t be leaving crucial decisions about our finances in the hands of incompetent Westminster governments – these decisions should be in Scotland’s hands, with the fresh start of independence.”

An HM Treasury spokesperson said: “Our record funding settlement for Scotland will mean over 20% more funding per head than the rest of the UK.

“We have also confirmed £8.3 billion in funding for GB Energy-Nuclear and GB Energy in Aberdeen, up to £750 million for a new supercomputer at Edinburgh University, and are investing £452 million over four years for City and Growth Deals across Scotland.

“This investment is all possible because our fiscal rules are non-negotiable, they are the basis of the stability which underpins growth.”

Pakistan has decided to obtain two foreign loans worth $1 billion for enhancing efficiency of the tax machinery, accountability of expenses and ensuring compliance with state-owned enterprises law — objectives that require will to improve rather than fresh loans.

The country has decided to seek a $600 million loan from the World Bank for the “Pakistan Public Resources for Inclusive Development” programme and $400 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the “Accelerating State-Owned Enterprise Transformation Programme”, official documents showed.

The $1 billion translates into a staggering Rs281 billion at the current exchange rate, sufficient to build an airport or hundreds of schools.
The loans will be obtained as budget support to cushion foreign exchange reserves. No asset will be created using the fresh foreign lending, details of these under-negotiation loans showed.

The development collides with a proposal by Syed Naveed Qamar, Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance. Qamar this week sought ratification of foreign debt deals by Parliament to ensure transparency and better utilisation of lending facilities.

Sources said the Ministry of Finance has proposed obtaining these loans as budget support to cushion foreign exchange reserves. Unlike the past, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has so far not unlocked major foreign lending. This compelled the central bank to buy $8.4 billion from the local market last fiscal year.

Budget support loans are not disbursed against asset creation. Money is released upon completion of agreed prior actions, mainly policy and law changes.

Sources said the $600 million World Bank loan will fund “reforms” in the Finance Division, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Ministry of Commerce, Power Division, Ministry of Information Technology, Pakistan Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and Office of the Accountant General Pakistan Revenue (AGPR).

Of the $600 million, $560 million will be disbursed against achieving certain targets. These include increasing income tax share in total taxes to 55% over five years. The current ratio is less than 50%. Usually, such targets are kept soft to ensure smooth tranche disbursement.

The government’s rationale in official documents is that Pakistan’s human capital outcomes like high stunting, learning poverty and infant mortality reflect chronic underinvestment and inefficient public spending shaped by a rigid, deficit-prone fiscal framework.

The official stance is that the $600 million programme will directly address these structural constraints, enabling Pakistan to sustainably finance inclusive development and meet national goals.

Officials said the Finance Division and the World Bank were in the process of finalising loan package details.

The programme aims to strengthen the fiscal system to support macroeconomic stability and service delivery. This will be achieved through “more efficient and effective revenue collection, strengthened allocation, efficiency and accountability in expenditures, and improved statistical data landscape for policymaking.”

The Express Tribune reported last month that there was a staggering $30 billion discrepancy in import figures reported by various government entities over a period of five years.

\Under the proposed programme, PBS will gain from technical assistance, upgraded systems and capacity building to provide timely, accurate data for policy decisions, according to the documents.

The loan money is also being taken in the name of strengthening the Tax Policy Unit, Debt Management Office, government rightsizing and open budgeting.
However, the World Bank and ADB have previously funded these offices. Much more remains to be achieved, indicating that improving governance of these institutions is needed more than money.

Sources said the FBR had previously expressed desire to utilise World Bank funds for buying weapons for civil armed forces, mainly Customs Enforcement. However, the World Bank did not agree. The FBR may again propose including “equipment, weapons required by civil armed forces” in the new lending envelope.

However, sources said the Planning Commission has raised objections to the new $600 million plan. It noted that foreign loans had previously been taken for FBR and AGPR. Existing lending programmes — Pakistan Raise Revenue Programme for FBR worth $450 million and Implementation of Online Billing solution (SEHAL) for AGPR — overlap with the new proposed plan.
ADB loan
Sources said the government is also seeking a $400 million loan from ADB for the Accelerating State-Owned Enterprise Transformation Programme.
The ADB package aims to address critical corporate governance and commercial performance challenges within 40 of Pakistan’s commercial state-owned enterprises.
ADB has already funded hundreds of millions of dollars in packages for improving governance and development of the SOEs framework in Pakistan.
In a seminar organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) this week, country heads of the United Nations Development Programme and IMF emphasised improving poor governance for better service delivery.
IMF has also conditioned approval of the third $1 billion loan tranche under the Extended Fund Facility on publication of the Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment report.
Sources said the new loan addresses governance challenges by enhancing efficiency, financial sustainability and performance of 40 SOEs, particularly the financial sustainability of National Highway Authority (NHA).
Stated objectives of the new facility include strengthening governance and compliance with SOE Act and policy, enhancing institutional capacity for oversight and monitoring, and improving financial and operational performance of NHA. Systematic monitoring and accountability have been weak due to limited institutional capacity within the Central Monitoring Unit and line ministries.

Washington’s economy is facing deepening distress as the longest-ever US government shutdown, mass layoffs of federal workers, and cuts to food assistance converge to hit households and small businesses across the capital region, AP reported.The Capital Area Food Bank, which supports more than 400 pantries and aid organisations across the District of Columbia, northern Virginia, and two Maryland counties, is preparing to provide 8 million more meals than planned this year — a nearly 20% increase.“This city has been hit especially hard because of the sequence of events that has occurred over the course of this year,” said Radha Muthiah, CEO and president of the food bank.The nation’s capital, home to roughly 150,000 federal employees, has been reeling from layoffs, the shutdown, and heightened law enforcement deployment. With the shutdown halting pay for hundreds of thousands of workers and freezing federal food aid, the economic strain has intensified.The District’s unemployment rate stood at 6% in September, one of the highest in the nation, compared with the US average of 4.3%. Economists warn that the regional impact of the shutdown will persist well after federal operations resume.Political reverberations are also being felt: Democrat Abigail Spanberger’s win in Virginia’s governor’s race was fuelled in part by her focus on the economic fallout of President Donald Trump’s policies on the region.Local businesses see sales fall, jobs vanishWashington’s restaurants, bars, and small retailers — heavily reliant on federal employees’ spending — have reported steep drops in sales. The Restaurant Association of Greater Washington said many eateries already operating on thin margins are now struggling to stay afloat as federal staff skip commutes and dining out.“Going without paychecks is causing cash flow issues for federal workers, and that’s spilling over into small businesses,” said Tracy Hadden Loh, a fellow at Brookings Metro, quoted AP. “A lot of businesses rely on higher spending in Q4 to stay profitable for the year.”At The Queen Vic, a British pub in northeast Washington, co-owner Ryan Gordon said weekend crowds have halved. “We still had seats for people, which means the bars around us who get our overflow got nothing,” he said, estimating business is down 50% since the shutdown began.Families under pressure as aid stallsThe financial strain is also pushing middle-income families into crisis. Thea Price, a former employee of the US Institute of Peace, lost her job in March, followed by her husband’s job loss as a government contractor.After relying on SNAP food assistance and savings, the couple’s payments were halted by the shutdown. With limited options left, Price is leaving Washington for her hometown near Seattle.“We can’t afford to stay in the area any longer and hope something might pan out,” she said. “We’re just in a much different place than when these things started.”At the Capital Area Food Bank, forklifts are running overtime to meet growing demand. “We’re focused on getting food to those who need it,” Muthiah said. “But people are borrowing against their futures to pay for basic necessities today.”