Pakistan records first budget surplus in 21 years

October 31, 2024 (MLN): Pakistan recorded the first budget surplus in over two decades during the first quarter of fiscal year 2024-25 thanks to increased revenue and a bumper surplus profit of the State Bank of Pakistan.

The country recorded a budget surplus of Rs1.696 trillion or 1.4% of GDP in Q1 FY25, the first surplus since FY04, according to data released by the finance ministry.

That compares with a budget deficit of Rs980.06 billion or 0.9% of GDP in the same period of last year.

Moreover, the primary surplus stood at Rs3tr (2.4% of GDP) in Q1FY25 as against a primary surplus of Rs399.55bn (0.4% of GDP) in Q1FY24.

Accordingly, the government paid off domestic debt worth Rs1.54tr and external debt of Rs156.86bn during the three month period.

During the quarter, revenue jumped 117% to Rs5.83tr as compared to Rs2.69tr in Q1FY24.

Tax revenue rose 25.2% to Rs2.78tr, while non-tax revenue soared 550.9% to Rs3.05tr.

Within the overall tax collection, the majority of it came from direct taxes which stood at Rs1.23tr, another Rs904.76bn came from sales tax, Rs276.87bn from customs, and Rs151.06bn through Federal Excise Duties. 

Moreover, under the non-tax revenue head, the major chunk was contributed by the surplus profit of the State Bank of Pakistan worth Rs2.5tr. That compares with just Rs972.18bn profit in the whole fiscal year 2024.

This was followed by collection from petroleum levy worth Rs261.69bn as compared to Rs222bn in same quarter last year.

On the expenditure front, the government spent a total of Rs4.13tr (3.3% of GDP) during the quarter, That is up 12.7% from same quarter last year.

Of the total expenditure, nearly 86% (Rs3.54tr) was spent to manage current expenditures, which mainly included mark-up payments (Rs1.31tr), defence (Rs410.17bn), grants to other (Rs239.21bn), and pension (Rs222.83bn).

Province-wise, only Punjab reported a deficit of Rs160.16bn.

Meanwhile, Sindh recorded an overall budget surplus of Rs131.1bn, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) at Rs103.75bn, and Baluchistan with a surplus of Rs85bn

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