Coalition govt expected to present FY24 budget with over 'Rs13tr outlay'

Ambition comes despite the fact that FBR is likely to miss this year's target

ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – The total outlay of the upcoming federal budget is expected to be around between Rs13 trillion to Rs15tr with an over 20 per cent increase in the revenue collection target, Dunya News learned on Sunday. 

The emphasis on improving tax collection is an obvious consequences of the revenue shortfall, which is resulting in a huge budget deficit amid the whopping external debt obligations as well as the pressure exerted by International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Hence, the proposed revenue target for the next fiscal year [2023-24] is reported to be around Rs9tr against the current year’s proposed figures of Rs7.64tr.

This urgency and desire to increase tax collection comes despite the fact that the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) is likely to miss the target set for 2022-23.

Read more: Is Pakistan going to miss tax collection target for FY23?

Challenges like stagflation, political uncertainties, external debt obligations, budget deficit and nonstop depreciation of rupee mean that preparing the next budget is a herculean task for the coalition government.

And this scenario is further complicated by the likely scenario that the government won’t be able to get the staff-level agreement done with the IMF.

But the political compulsions amid the upcoming general elections mean that the government may focus on increased targeted subsidies and minimum wages with a substantial rise in the salaries of government employees. The same applies to the development budget.