Pakistan lays out budget but may not satisfy IMF

Pakistan urgently needs the IMF funds to avoid defaulting on its mounting debt and come out of a months-long economic meltdown [File: Arshad Arbab/EPA-EFE]

Pakistan’s government will target a budget deficit of 6.54 percent of economic output in the fiscal year starting on July 1, the finance minister said on Friday, slightly below the current year’s revised estimate of 7 percent.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced the target during his budget speech to the national legislature.