Federal budget 2018-19 to be presented today

ISLAMABAD: Government today is all set to present its sixth consecutive federal budget for the year 2018-19 which is an estimated outlay of over around Rs 5 trillion.

According to the reports, the National Assembly has been summoned to meet on Friday for the presentation of federal budget. Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance Miftah Ismail will unveil the federal budget.

The main focus in the budget would be on infrastructure and human resource development while the government was likely to enhance allocations for social safety, reports suggested.

It will also focus on social sector development and revenue enhancement measures, besides introducing reforms for improving governance and boosting private sector investment.

On revenue side, the government would introduce measures for bringing improvement in the system of tax collection, broadening the tax base, and facilitation to tax payers, the official sources said and argued that a strong revenue generation would play a crucial role in achieving the targets for economic growth.

From growth perspective, the federal budget will focus on generating over 6pc gross domestic product growth (GDP), and for this purpose it will introduce some fiscal measures and policy initiatives.

The budget would be balanced, focusing on economic stability and growth, as the government had taken feedback from all the stakeholders for preparing this document, they added.

Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance Miftah Ismail unveiled the Economic Survey for the outgoing fiscal year (2017-18). The survey incorporates the latest figures incurred in the war against terror.

Highlights of Pakistan Economic Survey 2017-18

Pakistan’s total losses for 2017-18 after becoming part of the war might have crossed the $125 billion mark in the last 17 years as it stood at $123.13 billion till 2016-17.

“The latest poverty estimates and cost of war against terror will be part of the Economic Survey for 2017-18 which will be released on Thursday afternoon,” a top official of the government had confided to The News here on Wednesday.