The Finance Minister Ishaq Dar tabled the annual budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 in the National Assembly. According to the budget documents, the total volume of the federal budget for 2023-24 has been set at Rs. 14.46 trillion. while the budget deficit for the upcoming financial year will be Rs. 7.573 trillion. The proposed defense budget is Rs. 1.804 trillion.
In the budget the adhoc relief for government servants for BPS-1 to BPS-16 has been increased by 35 percent, whereas the pay of the officers working in BPS-17 to BPS-22 is raised by 30 percent. The pension of retired government employees is enhanced by 17.5 percent.
The target for tax revenue collection by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has been set at Rs. 9.2 trillion. Direct tax collection will amount to Rs. 3.759 trillion, while indirect taxes will amount to Rs. 5.441 trillion. Additionally, non-tax revenue is projected to be Rs. 2.963 trillion.
The government’s total revenue for the upcoming fiscal year will be Rs. 12.163 trillion. Out of which the federal revenues will amount to Rs. 2.531 trillion, while the provinces will have a surplus budget of Rs. 650 billion. Earnings from institutions will contribute Rs. 15 billion.
There is a possibility of setting the volume of the federal development budget at Rs. 1.150 trillion, which would be 31% higher than the previous fiscal year. An allocation of Rs. 90 billion is being made for schemes recommended by parliamentarians.
Approximately 80% of tax revenue in the upcoming fiscal year will go towards the payment of loans and interest. A recommendation is being made to allocate Rs. 7.3 trillion for loan repayments and interest. There is a possibility of allocating Rs. 430 billion for the Benazir Income Support Program, Rs. 1.3 trillion for subsidies.
The overall Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) budget for the upcoming fiscal year will be Rs. 2.5 trillion, which is 4% higher than the current fiscal year.
The proposed volume for the provincial development budget is Rs. 1.35 trillion. The development budget for Sindh has been recommended at Rs. 617 billion, with a 40% increase. The transitional budget for Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is being recommended for a period of four months.
The proposed development budget for Punjab is Rs. 426 billion, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s proposed budget is Rs. 268 billion. Balochistan’s proposed development budget is Rs. 248 billion, which is 65% higher compared to the current year.
The budget sets a target of $58.70 billion for revenue, while the volume of expenditures is allocated at $30 billion. There is a possibility of a trade deficit of $28.70 billion.
Though the increase of pay, allowances and pension of the government employees reveals that the government tried to appease them because It was the last budget from the PDM led government before general elections.
But on the other hand the revenue target fixed by the government seems to be bit of unrealistic, which was inducted under the directive of International Monetary Fund(IMF) as the Finance Minister is quite sure about the much delayed deal with the donor agency for the tranche of 1.2 billion dollars, which is part and parcel of total 6.00 billion dollars loan programme, which was commenced in 2018 for the period of five years, which is going to be expire on end of current fiscal year that is 30th June instant.