Higher taxes on property, vehicles, overseas card payments as agriculture machinery, solar panels become cheaper

Islamabad (HRNW) The federal government has tabled the annual budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 in the National Assembly with a total outlay of Rs9.502 trillion, of which Rs7.4 trillion will be financed by taxes and non-tax revenues.

The government will be spending a whopping Rs3.950 trillion, over 41% of the total budget, on the repayment of debt and the payment of interest on loans.

Rs1523 billion have been allocated for the defense budget and Rs800 billion for the public sector development programs (PSDP).

The PMLN-led government has earmarked Rs699 billion for targeted subsidies and Rs1242 billion for grants including the money for Benazir Income Support Program (BISP).

The allocation for BISP has been increased from Rs250 billion to Rs364 billion.

Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail presented the budget in the National Assembly.

The government has proposed changes in customs duty, additional customs duty, and regulatory duty on 400 items related to the manufacturing sector.

The minister said that in the outgoing fiscal year, the fiscal deficit was 8.6% of the GDP and the government plans to lower it to 4.9% of the GDP.

He said public debt increased to Rs44.365 trillion in the outgoing fiscal year which was 72.5% of the GDP, though the cap under the law was 60% of the GDP.

In the next fiscal year, the government has set an Rs7,004 billion revenue target for the FBR, while Rs2,000 billion will come from non-tax revenues. The government expects $32 billion in remittances from overseas workers.