Pakistan budget deficit could reach the record level



Pakistan budget deficit could reach the record level


ISLAMABAD


The International Monetary Fund warns Pakistan's budget deficit could reach record levels hitting 4 trillion Pakistani rupees ($23.7 billion) this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, accounting for nearly 9.2% of gross domestic product.

The grim statistics were laid out in an IMF report released this week, just days after Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan issued a global appeal to the world's richest countries and international lending institutions to provide debt relief to the developing world, already coping with devastating economies further crippled by the virus.

The IMF has already announced 25 countries would be given debt relief, but Pakistan was not among the 25.

Pakistan on Thursday recorded 6,505 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 124 deaths. Pakistan carries out roughly 3,200 tests daily, a small amount in a country of 220 million.

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