ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar is presenting the new budget for 2023-24 in the National Assembly with an outlay of Rs 14.5 trillion.
In the new budget, the government has projected a fiscal deficit of 7.7% while the tax collection target will be around Rs 9.2 trillion. Non-tax revenue target will be Rs2.80 trillion in the new budget for 2023-24.
Meanwhile, the proposed size of subsidies is Rs1.3 trillion. A major portion of the subsidy will go to the power sector _ about 976 billion rupees.
For the defense budget, the government has proposed 1.8 trillion rupees while 7.30 trillion will be utilized for the payment of markup on loans in 2023-24.
Ishaq Dar Unveils Economic Survey for 2022-23
Meanwhile, on Thursday finance minister Dar unveiled the economic survey for the outgoing fiscal year 2023-24.
Dar said he had left Pakistan in a strong economic position in 2017 when he was the finance minister under PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.
He said he had previously championed a 3Es framework, adding that it was now being expanded to a 5Es framework focusing on exports, equity, empowerment, environment, and energy.
According to the economic survey, Pakistan recorded 28.% inflation in the nine-month period (from July 2022 to March 2023), against a mere 11% in the same period last year.
The government set the inflation target at 11.5pc for FY-2023 but missed it because of a sharp depreciation of the rupee and global supply shocks resulting in pricey imports.
Dar did not forget to tell the journalists how bad the state of the economy was in 2013 when Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government assumed office. He explained the economy was in tatters, the country was facing 18 hours of power blackout while terrorism reigned supreme.
“We followed our ‘Three Es’ concept and Pakistan saw macroeconomic growth,” recalled Dar, adding that now, we are focusing on Five Es — exports, equity, empowerment, environment, and energy. These are our five areas of focus.
“This is our roadmap for the next year,” said the finance minister. He noted that the current year was a “challenging” one and the “government did its best to handle the economic situation”.
