Provinces help trim budget deficit to Rs3tr in first 9 months

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s total consolidated budget deficit was curtailed at 2.4 per cent of GDP, equivalent to close to Rs3 trillion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, with the contribution of the provinces to generate revenue surplus of Rs1 trillion.

The fiscal operation released by the Ministry of Finance showed that the net revenue receipts of the federal government stood at Rs7.4 trillion after transfer of provinces to the tune of Rs5.08 trillion under the NFC Award. The total booked expenditure of the federal government consumed Rs11.4 trillion, so the budget deficit of the federal government was hovering at Rs4 trillion. Now the provinces generated surplus of Rs1 trillion, so the overall deficit was restricted at Rs3 trillion or 2.4pc of GDP till the end of March 2025.

Now the IMF mission is expected to visit Pakistan next week for discussing the overall fiscal and budgetary framework for the next budget.