Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - Pakistan Finance Minister Miftah Ismail introduced the budget for the 2022/23 fiscal year beginning in...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - Pakistan Finance Minister Miftah Ismail introduced the budget for the 2022/23 fiscal year beginning in July on Friday, targeting 5% economic growth despite pressure to lower the fiscal deficit and get bailout funds from the International Monetary Fund.
These are the highlights of the budget year 2022/23:
GDP/DEFICIT
* Targets 5 percent economic growth for the 2022/23 fiscal year beginning in July, compared to a projected 5.97 percent annual growth for the current fiscal year.
* Fiscal deficit target for 2022/23 established at 4.9% of GDP compared to revised objective of 7.1% for 2021/22
* The tax-to-GDP ratio will be 9.2 percent in 2022/23, up from 9 percent in 2021/22.
DANGERS TO ECONOMY
* The conflict between Russia and Ukraine poses a threat to the economy of Pakistan.
* Rising crude oil and food costs might fuel high inflation
* Monetary tightening and fiscal retrenchment may impede economic expansion.
EXPENDITURE
* Federal expenditures for 2022/23 are estimated at 9.5 trillion rupees
* Development expenditure set at 800 billion rupees for 2022/23
* In 2022/23, Pakistan would spend 699 billion rupees on targeted subsidies.
* The defence budget will be 1.52 trillion rupees in 2022/23, up from 1.48 trillion rupees in 2021/22.
* In 2022/23, the budget allots 90.55 billion rupees for education, compared to 90.86 billion in 2021/22.
* Pakistan reduces its health budget for 2022/23 to 19.03 billion rupees from 154.49 billion rupees in 2021/22.
REVENUE
* Revenue target set at 7 trillion rupees for 2022/23
* Plans to generate 96.41 billion rupees through privatisation in 2022/23
* To levy a 2% extra tax on taxpayers having an annual income of 30 million rupees
* Expects central bank receipts of 300 billion rupees in 2022/23 compared to 474 billion rupees in 2021/22.
INFLATION
* The budget predicts inflation to average 11.5% in 2022/23, compared to 11.7% in 2021/22.
Inflation based on the consumer price index increased to 13.8% year-over-year in May, the highest rate in over two and a half years.
* Pakistan increased gasoline and diesel prices by approximately 20% earlier this month
TRADING INTERNATIONALLY
* Pakistan's export target for 2022/23 is set at $35 billion
* Import target established at $70 billion for 2022/23
* The trade deficit objective for 2022/23 is set at 2.2% of GDP
* The budget anticipates receipts of $33.2 billion in 2022/23
AUSTERITY MEASURES
* Prohibit purchasing new vehicles for government personnel
* Aims to reduce the gasoline usage of government officials
* Estimated debt service funds of 3.9 trillion rupees in 2022/23
OTHER ACTIVITIES
* To increase the tax exemption ceiling for taxpayers with salary income.
* Announces plans to develop special economic zones in order to increase manufacturing
* Provides a 5-year tax exemption for the film industry
• Establish 250 miniature stadiums to encourage sports
* To exempt solar panel imports from taxation
* Exempts thirty pharmaceuticals from customs duties
* Propose a 15% increase in government employee salaries
($1 = 202.00 Pakistani rupees)
(This article corrects the federal expenditure figure to 9,500,000,000 rupees from 9,500,000,000 rupees).
