The People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government yesterday tabled a $329.5 billion budget for the year 2020 projecting Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth this year within the range of 48.4% to 51.2% but with the country’s overall deficit to increase to 6.5% of GDP.
The deficit represents 8% of projected non-oil GDP.
In 2019, the overall balance of payments registered a deficit of US$48.9 million, lower than the deficit of US$132.2 million in 2018 due to an increase in the capital account surplus, which offset an 11.5% expansion in the current account deficit to $29.9 billion.
Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, who presented the budget on behalf of President Irfaan Ali, stated that while the total revenue collected in 2019, $240.6 billion was $23.6 billion above that of 2018 there was still a widening of the current account deficit driven by an increase in total expenditure while the revenue increase was due mainly to tax collections.