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$23b in foreign borrowing planned

Pakistan has planned to borrow a minimum of $23 billion in the next fiscal year, including the rollover of a bilateral debt of $12 billion, to finance its swelling development plan and meet the nation’s external financing requirement. Budget documents for fiscal year 2024-25 showed that Pakistan would borrow at least $23.2 billion, or Rs5.9 trillion, which did not include any loan from the Inte

Salaried, non-salaried taxpayers to cough up Rs225b

The federal government increased the tax rate for both salaried and non-salaried taxpayers in the federal budget for the next financial year, placing a cumulative burden of Rs75 billion on the salaried person, Rs150 billion on the non-salaried individuals. The budget proposed a maximum tax rate of 35% for the salaried persons, and 45% for non-salaried individuals. The minimum threshold of Rs50,

Defence spending up 18%

The federal government proposed around 18% increase in the defence budget as the country continued to face internal and external security challenges, the budget document showed on Wednesday. The defence budget outlay for 2024-25 is Rs2,128 billion – less than 12% of the total budget – compared to Rs1, 809 earmarked for the outgoing fiscal year 2023-24. However, the revised defence spending in t

Govt unveils record Rs1.5tr tax plan

The government on Wednesday proposed imposing a record Rs1.5 trillion in additional taxes to achieve an ambitious Rs13 trillion target for the new fiscal year, which is expected to unleash an inflationary storm in Pakistan due to heavy indirect taxation and further reductions in individual incomes. In an unprecedented move, despite heavy taxation, there remains an Rs800 billion gap between the me

Govt targets Rs1,281b from petroleum levy

The federal government has set an ambitious target of Rs1,281 billion on account of Petroleum Levy (PL) on petroleum products for the upcoming fiscal year 2024-25. This projection marks an increase of Rs321 billion over the revised estimate of Rs960 billion for the current fiscal year 2023-24. While the originally budgeted PL for the current year was Rs869 billion, the actual increase represents a