A shopkeeper uses a calculator while selling spices and grocery items along a shop in Karachi, Pakistan June 11, 2021.
A shopkeeper uses a calculator while selling spices and grocery items along a shop in Karachi, Pakistan June 11, 2021. Reuters / AKHTAR SOOMRO

Pakistan Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Friday unveiled the budget for the 2022/23 fiscal year starting July, aiming for economic growth of 5% amid pressure to control the fiscal deficit and secure International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout money.

The nation of 220 million people is facing a balance of payment crisis with foreign reserves falling below $10 billion, hardly enough for 45 days of imports, a widening current account and ballooning fiscal deficit.

Pakistan estimated economic growth of 5.97% for the current fiscal year that ends on June 30.

Ismail forecast inflation to average around 11.5% for 2022/23.

The IMF had asked the South Asian country to address its elevated fiscal and current account deficits before releasing a bailout package, as Pakistan had deviated from policies agreed in the last review under the multilateral agency's Extended Fund Facility programme.

"We have started difficult decisions... but it is not the end of taking difficult decisions," Ismail said.

One of the key steps, a removal of costly fuel subsidies, has already been implemented by the government, with fuel prices being raised by 40%.