Islamabad January 31 2023: The fiscal deficit during Jul-Nov FY 2023 has been contained to the same level of 1.4 percent of GDP as it was recorded in the comparable period last year, according to Ministry of Finance issued documents.
While the primary balance improved during Jul Nov FY2023 and posted a surplus of PKR 511 billion (0.6 percent of GDP) against the deficit of PKR 36 billion (-0.1 percent of GDP) last year. IMF asked government to achieve primary surplus of 1.2 percent of GDP in FY2022 compared with deficit of 3.1 percent or PKR 2 trillion in FY2022 an adjustment of 4.3 percent of GDP.
The net federal revenues grew by 34.7 percent to reach PKR 1,996 billion during Jul-Nov FY2023 against PKR 1,482 billion in the comparable period of last year. Due to a considerable collection under the SBP profit and petroleum levy, non-tax revenue saw a remarkable increase of 58 percent. Similarly, tax collection grew by 16.1 percent during the period under review. Thus, both tax and non-tax revenues have contributed to achieving significant growth in revenues
Total expenditure increased by 16.4 percent to PKR 3,367 billion during Jul-Nov FY2023 against PKR 2,894 billion in the same period of last year. Within the total, current expenditures grew by 22.6 percent owing to an 83.6 percent increase in markup payments. While PSDP expenditures slide down to PKR 130 billion during Jul-Nov FY2023 against PKR 252 billion in the comparable period of last year.
The provisional net tax collection increased by 17.4 percent to PKR 3,428.8 billion during Jul-Dec FY2023 against PKR 2,919.9 billion in the same period last year. The increase in growth is largely attributed to a 49 percent growth in direct taxes.
Domestic tax collection grew by 21.3 percent. Within domestic, sales tax was reduced by 0.2 percent, and FED grew by 12.3. Whereas revenues from customs duty were reduced by 2.1 percent during the period under review.
