Govt records budget deficit of Rs3.376tn for FY2019-20

The Government of Pakistan recorded a budget deficit of over Rs3.376 trillion i.e. 8.1 percent of the country’s GDP for the period July-June 2019-20. To meet the budget deficit, the government sought external financing of Rs895bn and domestic financing of over Rs2.480tn.

As per the Summary of Consolidated Federal and Provincial Budgetary Operations, 2019-20 released by the Ministry of Finance, total revenue of Rs6.272tn was collected in July-June 2019-20, with Tax Revenue of Rs4.747tn and Non-Tax Revenue of Rs1.524tn in the 12-Month period.

The FBR's collection stood at Rs3.998 trillion, the tax collector failed to achieve its Rs5.5 trillion annual tax collection target.

Meanwhile, Total Expenditure of Rs9.648tn recorded in the same period i.e. 23.1pc of Pakistan GDP, with Current Expenditure comprising over Rs8.532tn of the total expenditure. The total expenditures of the federal government stood at Rs6.6tn.

In the expenditure head, Rs1.213tn were spent on Defence Affairs and Service i.e. comprising 2.9pc of the GDP, whereas Rs1.155tn were spent on Total Development Expenditure, with spending on PSDP recorded at Rs1. 089tn.

The primary deficit – calculated after adjusting debt payments against revenues stood at Rs757 billion or 1.8pc of the GDP.

For the ongoing fiscal year, the government has set the budget deficit target at Rs3.2 trillion or 7pc of the GDP on the basis of the Rs4.963 trillion tax collection target.