Islamabad:
Pakistan implemented most of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ‘bailout package of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the first nine months of the financial year (July -March), but the federal government’s reduction in revenue and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) poor performance are major challenges.
According to a financial report released by the Ministry of Finance, Pakistan met three of the five major financial terms of the IMF. The FBR fixed target could only collect Rs 8.5 trillion against Rs 9.17 trillion, which led to a loss of Rs 715 billion.
Similarly, the target of recovery of Rs 36.7 billion under the business friend scheme failed completely. On the contrary, the provincial governments performed brilliantly and created a cash surplus of Rs 1.028 trillion, which is Rs 25 billion more than the IMF target.
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According to the report, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan made excellent tax collection, while the performance of Punjab was not mentioned.
The federal government spent Rs 11.5 trillion in the first nine months of the financial year, out of which Rs 6.4 trillion was spent on interest payments, which is Rs 921 billion more than last year.
Defense costs also reached Rs 1.42 trillion, which shows a 16.5% increase.
In the case of petroleum levy, the government has collected Rs 834 billion, which is a significant increase against the last year’s Rs 720 billion. Non -tax revenue was also Rs 71 billion higher than the target, in which the profit of the State Bank plays a vital role.
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According to the Finance Ministry, development costs were Rs 309 billion, which is less than a target of Rs 658 billion. The subsidy issuance was also limited to 49% of the target, which affected development projects.
In order to successfully continue the IMF program, revenue improves and financial discipline, otherwise economic difficulties may increase in the coming days.
