The government on Wednesday revealed the country’s fiscal health,confirming that the federal budget deficit in the first half of the currentfiscal year (July to December) shot up to Rs 1683 billion.
The deficit mainly widened because of higher expenditures as the revenueremained better than the budgetary estimates.
The federal ministry of finance released the summary of the first half ofthe current fiscal year showing that the fiscal position was weakening.
According to the finance ministry’s data, the total income from July toDecember was Rs 4698 billion as compared to the total expenditure which wasRs 6382 billion.
The tax collection revenue in the six months was Rs 3731 billion. Theincome of the federation was Rs 3428 billion while the provincial incomewas Rs 303 billion from July to December. The non-tax revenue collectionwas Rs 967 billion. The recurrent expenditure was Rs 6061 billion duringthe first half of the fiscal year 2022-23.
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The government spent Rs 2573 billion on interest payments and Rs 638billion on defense.
To meet the budget deficit, the government has to borrow Rs 296 billionfrom foreign money lenders and Rs 1979 billion from internal sources.