KARACHI – Pakistan’s federal government is mulling stern measures in budget 2024-25 aimed at reducing expenditure massively but a report shared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected over 19 percent increase in Pakistan’s defence budget.

A report shared by Business Recorder claimed that the global lender predicted Pakistan’s budget to be at Rs 2,152 billion, showing a 19.29 percent increase from the current year’s budget of Rs 1,804 billion.

IMF estimates this allocation to be 1.72 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with the nominal GDP for the next fiscal year estimated at Rs 124,813 billion, compared to Rs 106,577 billion for the ongoing fiscal year.

In its second and final review documents of Stand-By Arrangement, IMF also projects the current expenditure (federal plus provincial) for the next fiscal year to be Rs 22,037 billion, a 15.09 percent increase from the current year’s budget of Rs 19,146 billion.

Federal current expenditure is projected to be Rs 16,712 billion for the next year, which is 14.8 percent higher than the current fiscal year’s budget of Rs 14,555 billion, equivalent to 13.3 percent of the GDP, per report.

It also mentioned that interest payments as a component of current expenditure are projected to be Rs 9,787 billion for FY25, compared to Rs 8,602 billion for the ongoing fiscal year, with a surge of 13.7 percent.

Development expenditure and net lending are projected to be Rs 2,673 billion for the next fiscal year, compared to Rs 2,179 billion for the current fiscal year, showing a rise of 22.67 percent.