ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s fiscal deficit shrunk to 8.1pc of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the fiscal year 2019-20.
According to sources, the fiscal deficit was actually 8.1pc in June 2020 as compared to the revised estimates of 9.1pc published in the budget. This also included corona expenditures and if these expenditures were omitted, the deficit would have been 7.3pc of the GDP, they added.
The PTI economic team had set a 7.1pc fiscal deficit target for FY20.
The deficit was recorded at 4.1pc in the last quarter of 2019-20, whereas it remained at 4pc from July to March FY20.
Sources said that the government had paid Rs740 billion in interest payment from April to June 2020. Overall, the government had paid more than Rs2,600 billion in interest payments during FY20, as against the budget estimate of Rs2,900 billion.
The federal government has also given more than Rs900 billion in grants against the budget estimate of Rs830 billion.
Sources said that the government had given Rs88 billion additional money in subsidy during the last fiscal year (against the estimate of Rs272 billion), whereas it had disbursed Rs360 billion for corona control as well as in the head of income tax refunds.
They said the defence expenditure in the last [corona] quarter remained around Rs400 billion. Overall, the defence spending in the last fiscal year was Rs1.2 trillion as against the budget estimate of Rs1.15 trillion.
