The Government of Pakistan has shared budget proposals for the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ministry of Finance (MoF) sources told ProPakistani.
The lender will review all budget proposals and discuss details with MoF officials.
Sources told ProPakistani the government wants to resolve pending budgetary issues with the IMF to unlock stalled funds before the year-end.
The Finance Ministry has shared revised revenue targets for the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and measures to fulfill debt repayments in the new fiscal year.
Other proposals include allocations to cover debt and interest payments in the upcoming budget. Sources said the government shared with the lender plans regarding defense spending in the new fiscal year, while it has also proposed to raise additional cashflow via non-tax revenue.
Islamabad has informed the lender of another proposal to generate more profits through the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) plus more in cumulative revenue through the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) in the new fiscal year.
Despite facing backlash in the past few months over unsupported subsidies to the common man, the Finance Ministry has shared a plan for providing more subsidies during FY24.
According to sources, there is still uncertainty on GDP shortfalls for the upcoming fiscal year, but authorities have shared with the IMF that it expects the FY24 budget deficit to be 6.4 percent of GDP. Meanwhile, sources said the lender has been informed that the budget deficit of the federation and provinces are estimated to be between 4.8 and 5 percent in FY24.
For FY 2023-24, discussions are also underway between SBP officials and the IMF on the subject of securing sufficient financing to meet relevant requirements for fiscal expenditure.
Official sources said the Finance Ministry wants to strike a deal ahead of the budget and wants to help expedite efforts to send the pending Staff-Level Agreement to the IMF Executive Board for timely approval. They added that as soon as the existing program is completed, Pakistan plans to commence negotiations for the next program.
Source: Pro Pakistani