Pakistan : Terrorist Wahabi Islamic Rep Pakistan 6

[Naresh]

[url="http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010/03/02/story_2-3-2010_pg7_2"]Budget deficit jumps to Rs 403bn in first six months[/url]



* Rs 909.9bn generated as consolidated revenue over six months, expenditures recorded at Rs 1.313 trillion



ISLAMABAD: The consolidated budget deficit of the federal and provincial governments has jumped to [color="#FF0000"]Rs 403.25 billion[/color] in the first half of the ongoing fiscal year, according to a Finance Ministry report issued on Monday.



While consolidated revenues for the same period, July to December, amount to Rs 909.926 billion, expenditures have been recorded at Rs 1.313 trillion – translating into a deficit of Rs 403.25 million, which has been financed through external debts amounting to Rs 110.25 billion and domestic debts amounting to Rs 293 billion.



According to the consolidated report on federal and provincial budgetary operations in the first half of 2009-10, Rs 659.12 billion were generated through tax collection: the federal government’s collections totalled in at Rs 635.5131 billion, while collections by provincial governments stand at Rs 23.654 billion.



The ministry said the revenue generated over the six months was 6.1 percent of the gross domestic product, while the budget deficit was 2.7 percent of the GDP.



“The state generated Rs 211.401 billion through direct taxes, Rs 2.812 billion through property tax, Rs 242.871 billion through sales tax, Rs 58.291 billion through excise duty, Rs 71.248 billion through taxes on foreign trade and Rs 51.877 billions through the petroleum levy, while the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) earned a profit of Rs 135 billion during between July and December 2009,” said the ministry.



The report showed that Rs 165.968 billion were spent on defence affairs and services related to the war on terror during the last six months of 2009, while Rs 2.841 billion had been spent on healthcare and Rs 175.557 billion on the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).



“[color="#FF0000"]Punjab was the one and only province to spend ... more than the revenue generated of Rs 162.530 billion [/color]... [with] total expenditures of Punjab recorded at Rs 188.026 billion ... Sindh, Balochistan and NWFP had the closing balances of Rs 4.747 billion, Rs 14.534 billion and 13.050 billion at the end of 2009,” said the ministry.



According to Punjab’s revenue and expenditure details, the provincial government generated Rs 192.53 billion as revenue.



“Punjab paid Rs 4.877 billion to the federal government as interest on domestic debts amounting to Rs 27.63 billion, and Rs 46.301 billion were spent on the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), while the province’s total expenditures have been recorded at Rs 188.026 billion,” according to the report.



Sindh’s revenue and expenditure details showed that provincial government generated Rs 107.95 billion as revenue, while its expenditures were recorded at Rs 103.302 billion.



NWFP’s details showed that the provincial government generated Rs 75.175 billion as revenue, while its total expenditures were recorded at Rs 62.126 billion.



Balochistan generated Rs 39.817 billion as revenue, while the provincial government’s expenditures stood at Rs 22.955 billion.



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