Pakistans budget deficit has surpassed eight percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), equivalent to Rs 1652 billion, following a shortfall in both tax and non-tax revenues as well as overrun in expenditures during the last financial year, sources said on Monday.
Pakistans budget deficit has surpassed eight percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), equivalent to Rs 1652 billion, following a shortfall in both tax and non-tax revenues as well as overrun in expenditures during the last financial year, sources said on Monday.
However, the Ministry of Finance has not yet officially released budget deficit figures for the last financial year as they blame the continued strike by Auditor General of Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) officials, who are blocking the way of reconciliation of figures of total revenues and total expenditures.
The AGPR employees are on strike and demanding special allowance, which the government had promised to provide but has failed to fulfill.
According to provisional figures, which are in the process of finalisation and were shared by one top official of government, the reconciled tax collection of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) stood at Rs 1,902 billion against the desired target of Rs 1,952 billion.
On non-tax revenue side, the official said, there was a massive shortfall in the wake of non-materialisation of Coalition Support Fund (CSF) from USA, auction of third generation (3G) technology and from other heads in the last fiscal year ended on June 30, 2012.
The expenditure overrun on subsidies also negatively impacted the fiscal imbalance of the country, said the official and added that the power sector subsidies had ballooned out of proportion
, making lives of economic managers more difficult.
Secretary Finance Division Wajid Rana said that the budget deficit has not yet been finalised and it would take some more time to unveil the exact crucial number for FY12.
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