Pakistan has recorded a fiscal surplus of Rs1,274 billion, equal to 0.9 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), during the first three months of the current financial year, the Finance Ministry said on Friday.
The surplus for the July-September quarter of fiscal year 2026-27 marks the third consecutive first-quarter surplus, after 23 years in which the first quarter ended in deficit, according to the ministry’s data.
Khurram Schehzad, adviser to the finance minister, said in a post on X that the result reflected sustained fiscal prudence, expenditure discipline and macroeconomic stability. He said the surplus showed that the government’s fiscal turnaround was continuing.
The primary surplus, which excludes interest payments on debt, reached Rs2,974 billion, or 2.1 per cent of GDP, during the quarter. That was Rs239 billion, or 8.7 per cent, higher than the government had planned for the period.
The surplus was smaller than in the same quarter last year, when it stood at Rs2,119 billion, and lower than the Rs1,896 billion recorded in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025. The Finance Ministry said the narrowing was mainly because of lower revenues, including a 20 per cent fall in profits transferred by the State Bank of Pakistan, which dropped to Rs1.9 trillion.
According to the ministry, better tax collection and control over government spending helped achieve the surplus, despite tax relief measures announced in the budget. The primary surplus of 2.1 per cent of GDP is slightly above the International Monetary Fund’s full-year target of 2 per cent for fiscal year 2027.
Pakistan is in the middle of a $7 billion programme with the International Monetary Fund, approved in September 2024, which requires the government to strengthen public finances and keep spending under control as the economy recovers from a prolonged crisis.
The first quarter of the financial year is generally stronger for the public finances because of seasonal transfers of profits from the State Bank of Pakistan. The Finance Ministry said it would keep fiscal policy focused on preserving stability through stronger revenue collection and careful spending.
Meanwhile, profits of companies listed on Pakistan’s stock market increased by 25 per cent during January-September 2026, recording their highest growth for the same period in three years, according to the 24NewsHD report.
The government has set a fiscal deficit target of 3.6 per cent of GDP for the full financial year 2026-27, with a primary surplus target of 2 per cent of GDP.
