Pakistan’s government has announced that it will aim for a budget deficit of 6.54 percent of economic output in the fiscal year beginning on July 1. This is slightly lower than the revised estimate of 7 percent for the current year, according to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. Dar revealed the target during his budget speech to the national legislature. The deficit target for the fiscal year ending this month had been revised upwards from a previous projection of 4.9 percent. The budget must satisfy the IMF in order to secure the release of bailout money for the crisis-stricken country, which is due to hold a general election by November. Dar stated that the government had prepared “a responsible budget, not an election budget”. The total spending target would be 14.46 trillion rupees ($50.45bn), with 1.8 trillion rupees ($6.2bn) going to defence. The budget would target debt servicing of 7.3 trillion rupees ($25.4bn).
Article from www.aljazeera.com rnrn