Govt borrows Rs1.6tr in 70 days
Despite higher taxation on almost all sectors of the economy, the government has rigorously been borrowing for budgetary support since the outset of the current fiscal year. The data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday showed that the government borrowed Rs1,600 billion in the first 70 days (July 1 to Sept 8) of this fiscal year against Rs261bn in the same period last year. In other words, the government borrowed over Rs22.8bn per day to meet its expenditures. The rapid increase in borrowing speaks a lot about the widening gap between revenue generation and rising spending. It seems the government is facing a serious shortage of revenue or the spending is much higher than the budgeted target. However, the revenue collection during the first two months of the current fiscal exceeded the target set for the period. The Federal Board of Revenue collected Rs1,207bn during July-August against the target of Rs1,183bn, an increase of Rs24bn.