Cash-strapped Pak likely to present nearly Rs 9.5L crore budget: Report

Islamabad: Cash-strapped Pakistan is likely to present a nearly Rs 9.5 lakh crore budget with 58% of the fund to be spent only on debt servicing and defence, according to a media report on Wednesday.

The budget, prepared on a highly ambitious target of a mere 4% increase in expenses but one-fourth surge in revenues, would be unveiled on Friday and the revenue increase was aimed at meeting a core condition of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Express Tribune newspaper reported.

Quoting sources, the report said the defence budget is estimated around Rs 1.53 lakh crore - up by Rs 73,000 cr or 5% over the revised budget of the outgoing fiscal year. The Ministry of Defence has already taken a Rs 80,000 cr supplementary budget last week for the outgoing fiscal year.

The federal government has finally agreed to exhibit a primary budget surplus of nearly Rs 20,000 crore by planning fiscal consolidation of nearly Rs 1.8 lakh crore or 2.2% of the Gross Domestic Product in the next fiscal year, the sources said.

The budgetary framework is projecting about 0.3% of the GDP primary budget surplus showing that its net income will be more than the expenditure, excluding debt servicing cost.