TAHIR AMIN

ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected an increase in the gross government debt for Pakistan from 67.2 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2017 and 2018 to 67.4 percent in 2019.

According to the IMF’s “Fiscal Monitor 2018, Capitalizing on Good Times,” the net debt of Pakistan is also projected to increase to 62.4 percent of the GDP in 2018 and 63.3 percent for 2019 against 61.6 percent in 2017.

The report projected that the government revenue will reach 15.8 percent of GDP in 2018 and 15.8 percent by 2019 against 15.7 percent during the same period of 2017.

The government expenditure is projected to decrease to 21.2 percent of GDP in 2018 as compared to 21.3 percent in 2017, but projected to increase to 21.5 percent by 2019.

The Fund further projected Pakistan budget deficit at 5.3 percent for 2018 and 5.7 percent for 2019.

According to the report, the country’s maturing debt in 2018 is estimated at 24.7 percent of GDP and by 2019, maturing debt is estimated to increase to 25.6 percent.

According to the report, there would be total financing needs of about 30 percent of GDP in 2018 and total financing needs will increase to 31.3 percent of GDP by 2019.

According to the report, a majority of the world’s population still cannot access or afford the internet. About 4.2 billion people of the world still have no access to internet, while total internet users in the world are 3.2 billion. India tops the list with 1.1 billion population without internet access, followed by China, 0.7 billion, Indonesia, 0.2 billion, Pakistan, 0.2 billion, Bangladesh, 0.1 billion, Nigeria, 0.1 billion, Brazil, 0.1 billion, and Ethiopia, 0.1 billion. Countries outside of the top 10 countries have 1.6 billion population without access to internet.