Islamabad October 26 2022: Pakistan had a primary surplus of PKR 417 billion during the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, a significant increase from the PKR 135 billion reported in the same quarter the previous year, as stated by the Ministry of Finance.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected PKR 2,041 billion in taxes, surpassing the revenue target of PKR 1,907 billion set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for September 2023.
However, Pakistan's fiscal deficit for the period spanning July 2023 to September 2023 increased to PKR 962 billion. This rise can be attributed to an increase in interest payments, which reached PKR 1,379 billion, compared to PKR 953 billion during the same period the previous year.
The total revenue collection for Pakistan amounted to PKR 2,685 billion, marking a significant 33.1 percent increase compared to the PKR 2,017 billion collected during the same period in the previous year. Meanwhile, expenditures also increased by 28.6 percent, reaching PKR 3,649 billion, up from PKR 2,837 billion in the first quarter of the previous year.
Breaking down the revenue sources, direct taxes amounted to PKR 935 billion, up from PKR 683 billion, while indirect taxes totaled PKR 1,106 billion, reflecting a 16.3 percent increase from PKR 951 billion. Within indirect taxes, customs revenue increased to PKR 252 billion, a 9.6 percent growth from the previous year's collection of PKR 229 billion. Sales tax collection rose to PKR 727 billion from PKR 642 billion, a growth of 13.2 percent.
Notably, the collection from the Petroleum Levy in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024 reached PKR 222 billion, a significant increase from the PKR 47.5 billion collected during the same period in the previous year.
During the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, Pakistan allocated PKR 1,379 billion, which accounted for 51.3 percent of its total income, to interest payments for its debt. The country's overall expenditure increased to PKR 3,648 billion compared to PKR 2,836 billion in the previous year. This increase was mainly due to higher markup payments, which amounted to PKR 1,379 billion, up from PKR 954 billion in the previous year. Additionally, defense spending increased to PKR 343 billion from PKR 313 billion during the same period in the previous year.
The country's pension liability also increased, reaching PKR 343 billion during the period from July 2023 to September 2023, compared to PKR 172 billion during the same period the previous year.
In terms of subsidies, the government provided PKR 132 billion to the general public during the first quarter of the fiscal year, an increase from the PKR 93 billion in subsidies provided during the same period in the previous year.
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