Finance ministry issues fiscal targets for next fiscal year

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government tabled federal budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 in National Assembly on Friday with one eye on voters and another on the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In the latest Budget Strategy Paper, the Ministry of Finance has issued growth targets for the upcoming fiscal year.

These macroeconomic and fiscal indicators include:

• GDP: Rs108.5 trillion
• Inflation: 21%
• Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) taxes: 8.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
• Overall deficit: -6.5% GDP
• Overall primary balance: 0.4% GDP
• Public debt: 66.5% of GDP
• Current account deficit: $6 billion

'Tough decisions'

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar — who took charge of the finance ministry in September last year — noted that despite the economic challenges confronting Pakistan, the coalition parties still came into power.

"We took and are still taking tough decisions which rescued the economy from default," he said while presenting the budget.

He further added that although the nation had suffered massive losses of $30 billion due to unprecedented floods, the government is bidding to resume the IMF programme and take the country on the road of development.

"We have completed all the prerequisites of the ninth IMF review [...] we are hoping to reach an agreement with the IMF," the minister told the members of the lower house.