Audit reveals persistent Rs413.3bn fiscal gap, with Punjab contributing Rs144.4bn to the country’s Rs342bn provincial discrepancy
By Mehrab Shah Afridi
ISLAMABAD: Debt servicing continued to outpace both defence and development spending in the first half of the current fiscal year, putting additional pressure on Pakistan’s economy under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, according to a report by Daily Metro Morningon Saturday.
Statistics released by the Ministry of Finance showed that markup payments on the country’s accumulated public debt reached Rs3,563 billion in the first six months of CFY26, more than twice the combined allocations for defence (Rs1,044 billion) and the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) (Rs238 billion).
The report also highlighted a persistent statistical discrepancy of Rs413.3 billion, slightly lower than Rs439.7 billion recorded during the same period last year. Punjab accounted for Rs144.4 billion of the total provincial discrepancy of Rs342 billion.
Fiscal operations revealed that, under the IMF’s tight scrutiny, Pakistan achieved a fiscal surplus of Rs542 billion in the first half of the current year, a significant improvement over the Rs1,537 billion deficit recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The primary balance, a key indicator closely monitored by the IMF, recorded a surplus of Rs4,105 billion, equivalent to 3.2 percent of GDP, compared with 3.1 percent of GDP in the same period last year.
The IMF is expected to send a review mission to Islamabad by the end of this month or early next month to conduct the third review under the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The mission will finalize major contours of the 2026-27 budget, particularly with regard to Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) taxation measures.
Total revenues for the first six months amounted to Rs10,683 billion, of which Rs6,160 billion was collected by the FBR, while non-tax revenues contributed Rs3,954 billion. The largest component of non-tax revenue was the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) profit, which accounted for Rs2,428 billion.
Other contributions included petroleum levy (Rs823 billion), carbon levy (Rs25.485 billion), Captive Power Plants (CPP) levy (Rs8.8 billion), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) profit (Rs24.8 billion), royalties on oil and gas (Rs61.14 billion), passport fees (Rs26.7 billion), natural gas development surcharge (Rs32.3 billion) and receipts from the ICT Administration (Rs17 billion).
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