ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s budget deficit was recorded at Rs324 billion during first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal year as against Rs438 billion in the same period of the last year due to robust tax collections and lower expenditure.
In terms of GDP, the overall deficit decreased to 0.9 percent in the first quarter of current financial year as compared to 1.3 percent recorded in the first quarter of last year. Reduced fiscal deficit means lower public debt accumulation which supports alignment to targets defined in the amended Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitations Act.
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The government had set budget deficit target at Rs1.48 trillion (4.1 percent of the GDP) for the ongoing financial year 2017-18. The government would have to adopt austerity plan and robust tax collection during current fiscal year to restrict budget deficit within target of 4.1 percent of the GDP. The country budget deficit, a gap between expenditures and revenues, had recorded at 5.8 percent of the GDP during last fiscal year (FY2017) as against the target of 3.8 percent of the GDP. The country’s expenditures were recorded at Rs6.8 trillion (21.3 percent of the GDP) as compared to revenues of Rs4.9 trillion (15.5 percent of the GDP), taking the deficit to Rs1.9 trillion, according to the documents of the Ministry of Finance.
