By Abdul Wajid Khan ISLAMABAD, May 11 (INP-WealthPK): According to the latest report released by the ministry of finance on Pakistan’s fiscal operations, the country’s fiscal deficit was recorded at Rs2,565 billion during the July-March period of the ongoing fiscal year (FY22), which is equivalent to 4% of the gross domestic product (GDP), reports WealthPK. The total revenue during the first three-quarters of the current fiscal was recorded at Rs5,874 billion, of which total tax revenue stood at Rs4,821 billion, including federal tax collection of Rs4,383 billion and provincial tax collection of Rs438 billion. The total non-tax revenue was recorded at Rs1,052 billion, including federal non-tax revenue of Rs985 billion and provincial non-tax revenue of Rs93 billion. The primary balance during this period remained negative at Rs447 billion. The total expenditure during the first nine months of the current fiscal was recorded at Rs8,439 billion, of which current expenditure stood at Rs7,378 billion, including markup payments of Rs2,118 billion and defence expenditure of Rs881 billion. In percentage terms, the total revenue was recorded at 9.2% while tax collection was 7.5% of GDP during the period under review. The total expenditure during the same period stood at 13.2%, the budget deficit at 4% and the primary deficit was recorded at 0.7% of GDP. The total development expenditure during this period was recorded at Rs1,032 billion, of which the federal share stood at Rs308 billion while the provincial share remained at Rs724 billion. The report further highlighted that the total federal tax revenue of Rs4,383 billion included Rs1,578 billion indirect taxes, Rs1,866 billion in sales tax, and Rs224 billion in Federal Excise Duty (FED) and Rs714 billion in taxes received from global trade. The provincial tax revenue of Rs. 438 billion included Rs. 251.5 billion sales tax on services, Rs50 billion stamp duty, Rs27 billion motor vehicle duty, Rs6.7 billion excise duty and other taxes of Rs102.4 billion. Provincial surplus remained at Rs. 599 billion, which included Rs. 392 billion share of Punjab government, Rs. 114 billion of Sindh, Rs. 90.541 billion of Balochistan and Rs. 1.637 billion of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The government is focusing on increasing tax collection to contain fiscal deficit. In this regard, the Federal Board of Revenue hopes to achieve the Rs. 6.1 trillion tax collection target during the ongoing fiscal year. The government had earlier said that the strong growth in the FBR’s tax collection due to its fiscal consolidation measures was helping improve the country’s fiscal position. According to the finance ministry’s mid-year budget review report for the ongoing financial year, the fiscal consolidation measures taken by the government have resulted in financial discipline, higher revenues and controlled expenditures. The same strategy will be followed during the remaining period of the FY22 to achieve fiscal sustainability. In the fiscal policy of the ongoing financial year, fiscal deficit has been budgeted at 6.3% of GDP. At the end of the second quarter of FY22, there was a marked improvement in fiscal parameters when compared to the corresponding period of the previous financial year. According to the latest official data released by FBR, despite massive tax relief, it has registered a 29.1% growth in revenue collection during the period from July 2021 to March 2022. FBR collected a net revenue of Rs4,382 billion from July 2021 to March 2022, exceeding its target by Rs247 billion. This represents a growth of about 29.1% from Rs3,394 billion collected during the same period of last year.