Islamabad November 1 2024: Pakistan reported positive fiscal balance for the first time since Second quarter of fiscal year 2004, according to data released by Ministry of Finance.
The budget deficit improved in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2025 (1QFY25) to PKR 1,696 billion compared to a deficit of PKR 980 billion in 1QFY24. The primary balance also showed an impressive improvement, reaching PKR 3,002 billion, marking 7.5 times increase compared to PKR 400 billion in the previous year.
In the first quarter of the fiscal year 2025 (1QFY25), Pakistan’s consolidated fiscal operations demonstrated notable growth in both revenue and expenditure compared to the same period in fiscal year 2024 (1QFY24).
Total revenue in 1QFY25 reached PKR 5,827 billion, marking a significant increase of 117% from PKR 2,686 billion in 1QFY24. This growth was largely driven by tax revenue, which rose by 25% from PKR 2,217 billion to PKR 2,776 billion. Within tax revenue, federal tax collections were up by 18% to PKR 2,563 billion, with notable contributions from direct taxes increased by 32% to PKR 1,230 billion, Customs duties grew by 10% to PKR 277 billion, Sales tax rose by 25% to PKR 905 billion and Excise duty increased by 12% to PKR 151 billion.
Provincial tax revenue also saw a 21% rise, reaching PKR 213 billion.
Non-tax revenue showed remarkable growth, surging by 6.6 times to PKR 3,051 billion in 1QFY25 compared to PKR 461 billion in 1QFY24. This growth is attributed to PKR 2,500 billion dividend received from State Bank of Pakistan.
Total expenditure also increased by 13% year-over-year, from PKR 3,668 billion in 1QFY24 to PKR 4,131 billion in 1QFY25. Current expenditure grew by 14%, reaching PKR 3,537 billion, with federal current spending up by 5% to PKR 2,373 billion. Mark-up payments saw a steep increase of 54%, totaling PKR 1,333 billion, due to higher domestic and foreign interest payments.
Defense expenditure went up by 16% to PKR 278 billion and Provincial spending also rose by 28% to PKR 1,164 billion.
In contrast, spending on the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) slightly declined by 3% to PKR 278 billion.
