Rs9.5t outlay budget today

Govt to announce budget today

ISLAMABAD:

Finance minister Miftah Ismail will present the current Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led coalition government’s first budget on Friday (today) with a total outlay expected to be Rs9.5 trillion.

It is learnt that the federal expenditure has been estimated around Rs9.5 trillion – Rs350 billion more than this year’s revised budget of over Rs9 trillion and 11% more than Rs8.5 trillion estimated in the original budget last year.

According to sources, that budgetary estimates have been prepared on the “ambitious” assumption of less than 4% increase in the expenditures. The current expenditures are targeted to grow only by over 2% to Rs8.6 trillion against the revised estimates.

The debt servicing cost that was Rs3.1 trillion in this year will jump close to Rs4 trillion –an increase of Rs800 billion or 26%. The domestic debt servicing will consume nearly Rs3.5 trillion while another Rs500 billion will be given for foreign debt servicing.

The defence budget is estimated at Rs1.53 trillion –up by Rs73 billion or 5% over the revised budget of the outgoing fiscal year. The government may drastically cut subsidies that are estimated near Rs650 billion in the next fiscal year.

These are down by Rs850 billion or 60% over this year’s revised estimates, the sources said. The cost of pensions is Rs530 billion and the running of the civil government consumes only Rs550 billion, the sources said.