Pakistan’s overall fiscal deficit in the first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal year dropped to 0.8 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or Rs438.5 billion, which is one of the lowest in the comparable period of last four years of the current government.
According to Fiscal Operations Data released by the Ministry of Finance, the total revenue in first quarter stood at 3.4pc of GDP that was better than 3.2pc of same period last year. The total revenue in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019-20 had also amounted at 3.4pc of GDP.
The data showed the overall deficit in first quarter at 0.8pc of GDP was higher than FY2019-20 when it stood at 0.7pc of GDP but was lower than 1.1pc of GDP deficit in FY2020-21 and 1.4pc of GDP in FY2018-19 – the first year of the current government.
The fiscal operations indicated that the government was able to control the budget deficit from both counts as it slighted tightened expenditures and simultaneously improved revenue collection. This was apparent from the fact that total revenues at 3.4pc of GDP were higher than 3.2pc of same period last year while expenditures were contained at 4.2pc of GDP when compared to 4.3pc of GDP.
