Coalition govt to present Rs9.5tr budget on Friday

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif led coalition government will present Rs9.5 trillion budget for fiscal year 2022-23 on Friday.

As per the details, finance minister will present the budget in National Assembly.

The total outlay of budget would be around Rs9.5 trillion including Rs8.79 trillion current expenditures and Rs800 billion for Public Sector Development Program (PSDP).

Out of Rs800 billion PSDP, the government has allocated Rs2.2 trillion for 160 new schemes on the recommendation of coalition partners in next year PSDP.

Sources said that government has proposed to allocate Rs4 trillion for debt servicing including Rs3.5 trillion for interest payments on loans and Rs500 billion for interest payments on external loans.

In addition, sources said that government has also proposed to allocate Rs1.6 trillion for defense budget for the next fiscal year.

Sources said that government has decided to allocate Rs530 billion for payment of pension to retired government servants while it has also proposed to allocate Rs550 billion for running the civil government for the next fiscal year.

Meanwhile, the government is allocating Rs1,232 billion for grants and transfers, Rs578 billion for subsidies and Rs398 billion for other expenditures for the next fiscal year.

Sources said that government has decided to set Rs7.25 trillion tax revenue target and Rs1.5 trillion for non-tax revenue for the next fiscal year.

On the other hand, the FBR on the instruction of IMF has decided to impose new taxes worth Rs1,100 billion besides withdrawing sales tax exemptions.

Sources said that the Finance Ministry is projecting a budget deficit of 4.8 percent of GDP (Rs3.8 trillion) for the next fiscal year to revive the stalled IMF loan program.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail will chair the launching ceremony of the Economic Survey for the outgoing fiscal year on Thursday.

It will provide details on the major socio-economic developments during the financial year 2021-22.

Pakistan Economic Survey contains performance of the various sectors of the economy including Agriculture, Industry and Services.

Pakistan Economic Survey also highlights the performance of other sectors like Energy, Capital Market, Health, Education, Transport and Communication, Inflation, Trade and payments, Public Debt, Population, Climate Change, and Social Protection.