Finance Minister Ishaq Dar will present the federal budget 2023-24 in parliament today at 4 PM.
The Rs. 14.5-14.7 trillion budget comprises 1,210 development projects, 32 of which will be allocated Rs. 5 billion or more each.
The budget for the upcoming fiscal year forecasts a deficit of Rs. 700 billion, with a significant provision of Rs. 7,300 billion for interest and debt payments.
As per the budget documents, the size of the Annual Development Program is fixed at Rs. 1,150 billion.
An amount of Rs. 950 billion has been earmarked for the Public Sector Development Program.
Funds to the tune of Rs. 170 billion have been set aside for special initiatives of the Prime Minister and development schemes of the lawmakers, whereas Rs. 80 billion will be used on nine special projects of the prime minister.
An amount of Rs. 30 billion has been allocated for a program to convert agricultural tube wells to solar power. In addition, Rs. 10 billion has been set aside for the Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme.
The government has given the Federal Board of Revenue a tax collection target of Rs. 9.2 trillion-plus nontax revenue target of Rs. 2.7 trillion in the new fiscal year.
Authorities also plan to amend the Finance Bill for raising the Petroleum Development Levy from Rs. 50 to Rs. 60 per Liter and collect Rs. 870 billion from this source.
Meanwhile, fiscal restraints will cause problems next year since the federal government’s overall net revenue sources are expected to be insufficient for debt servicing.
