KARACHI: The federal cabinet on Tuesday approved the federal budget for the year 2014-15, with a total outlay of Rs3.945 trillion, and a Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) allocation of Rs525 billion.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar told parliament in his budget speech that he aimed to reduce the budget deficit to 4.9 percent of economic output in the 2014-15 fiscal year from 5.8 percent a year earlier.
Budget spending has been set at Rs3.8 trillion, while tax revenues that Pakistan would be able to collect in the next fiscal year are estimated at Rs 3.94 trillion.
The total outlay of budget 2014-15 is Rs 4,302 billion. This size is 7.9% higher than the size of budget estimates 2013-14. The resource availability during 2014-15 has been estimated at Rs 4,074 billion against Rs 3,011 billion in the budget estimates of 2013-14. The net revenue receipts for 2014-15 have been estimated at Rs 2,225 billion indicating an increase of 16% over the budget estimates of 2013-14.
The provincial share in federal revenue receipts is estimated at Rs 1,720 billion during 2014-15, which is 14.5% higher than the budget estimates for 2013-14. The net capital receipts for 2014-15 have been estimated at Rs 691 billion against the budget estimates of Rs 493 billion in 2013-14 i.e. an increase of 40%.
The external receipts in 2014-15 are estimated at Rs 869 billion. This shows an increase of 50.7% over the budget estimates for 2013-14.
The overall expenditure during 2014-15 has been estimated at Rs 4,302 billion, out of which the current expenditure is Rs 3,463 billion and development expenditure is Rs 839 billion. Current expenditure has been estimated to be higher than the revised estimates for 2013-14 by 8.3%, while development expenditure lower by 2.4%.
The share of current expenditure in total budgetary outlay for 2014-15 is 80.5% as compared to 78.8% in revised estimates for 2013-14. The expenditure on General Public Services is estimated at Rs 2,543 billion which is 73.4% of the current expenditure.
The size of Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for 2014-15 is Rs 1,175 billion. Out of this, Rs 650 billion has been allocated to provinces. Federal PSDP has been estimated at Rs 525 billion, out of which Rs 296 billion to Federal Ministries / Divisions, Rs 176 billion to Corporations, Rs 12.5 billion to Pak Millennium Development Goals and Community Development Programme, Rs 36 billion to Federal Development Programme / Projects for Provinces and Special Areas, and Rs 5 billion to Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA). The other development expenditure outside PSDP for 2014-15 has been estimated at Rs 162 billion.
To meet expenditure, bank borrowing has been estimated for 2014-15 at Rs 228 billion, which is lower than the budget and revised estimates of 2013-14.
Finance minister presents Rs3.945 trillion budget for the year 2014-2015
