Islamabad:Pakistan has recorded a fiscal surplus of 1.274 trillion rupees, equivalent to 0.9 percent of GDP, during the first quarter of the current fiscal year, according to Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad.

According to Radio Pakistan, the country also recorded a primary surplus of 2.974 trillion rupees, equivalent to 2.1 percent of GDP, during the same period. This primary surplus exceeded the budget target by 239 billion rupees, reflecting an improvement of 8.7 percent.

Khurram Schehzad noted that Pakistan has achieved fiscal surpluses in the first quarters of the last three consecutive fiscal years, reversing a two-decade-long trend of first-quarter fiscal deficits from 2002 to 2024. Specifically, the fiscal surplus was 1.896 trillion rupees in the first quarter of Financial Year 2025 and 2.119 trillion rupees in the corresponding period of Financial Year 2026.

Furthermore, the last three years recorded the highest first-quarter primary surpluses in twenty-six years, each exceeding 2.9 trillion rupees. Highlighting the achievements of Fiscal Year 2026, Schehzad stated the fiscal deficit stood at 2.6 percent of GDP, the lowest in twenty-two years, while the primary surplus reached 2.9 percent of GDP, the highest since at least Fiscal Year 2001.

Schehzad also pointed out that Pakistan recorded three consecutive annual primary surpluses from 2024 to 2026, with interest expenditure declining by twenty-two percent during Fiscal Year 2026. Despite tax relief measures introduced in the Fiscal Year 2027 budget, tax collections during the first quarter exceeded the target, and government expenditure remained rationalized.

The Finance Minister's Adviser emphasized that Pakistan's fiscal performance is increasingly defined by sustained financial discipline rather than isolated improvements.