Acting President Sadiq Sanjrani — who has assumed the role as President Arif Alvi went on Haj — approved the amended Finance Bill 2023-24 on Monday.
A day ago, the said bill for the new fiscal year sailed through the National Assembly after the government had made several changes, including fiscal tightening measures, dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a last-ditch effort to secure critical funding.
The revised budget — now amounting to Rs14.4b trillion — aims for an additional Rs215 billion in tax revenue alongside a cutback of Rs85bn in public spending for the upcoming fiscal year.
However, this does not affect the federal development budget or the salaries and pensions of government personnel.
The said bill was passed during a National Assembly session that lacked quorum, with only 70 lawmakers on the treasury benches and two on the opposition benches.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, his father and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, and Leader of the Opposition Raja Riaz were also absent.
Under the changes in the budget, the government now aims to generate another Rs215bn in taxes and cut spending by Rs85bn in the next fiscal year, without reducing the federal development budget or the salaries and pensions of government employees.
This revises the government’s revenue collection target to Rs9.415tr and put total spending at Rs14.48tr. The share of the provinces would be increased to Rs5.39tr from Rs5.28tr.
The government hopes to achieve a 28 per cent higher revenue target for the next fiscal year based on the projected economic growth of 3.5pc, average inflation of 21pc and revenue measures.
The autonomous growth in revenue — to come from Gross Domestic Product growth and inflation — is projected at Rs1.76tr in the next fiscal year.
