Pakistan's fiscal deficit climbs to Rs 3.403 trillion in 2020-21

Islamabad [Pakistan] August 27 : Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) three-year tenure has been a setback for the country's economy as the fiscal deficit stood at 7.1 per cent of GDP in 2020-21, 8.1 per cent of GDP in 2019-20, and 8.9 per cent of GDP in 2018-19.
The country's overall budget deficit in the last fiscal year was Rs 3.403 trillion which is equivalent to 7.1 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while the primary deficit was Rs 653.5 billion, The News International reported.
The country's interest payments on domestic and foreign loans have also increased drastically while defence expenses have surpassed development and other expenditures in the same year.
The gross revenue receipts stood at Rs 6.269 trillion and after making payment to the provinces under the NFC Award to the tune of Rs 2.741 trillion, the federal government was left with net revenue receipts of just Rs 3.5 trillion. So if added with non-tax revenues of Rs1.4 trillion, the Centre could be left to only meet the expenditure of markup repayment on debt and defence, The News International reported.
Thus, the PTI government would have to opt for loans from the international markets in order to meet expenses including pensions, developments, running the civilian government, subsidies, and more.