ISLAMABAD, June 8: The government had achieved the 4.2 per cent GDP fiscal deficit target for the current financial year and set a target of four per cent for the next year, said Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Salman Shah.

“We have achieved this 4.2 per cent fiscal deficit target by having a 30 per cent increase in revenues,” he told a press conference here on Friday where he released the Economic Survey 2006-07.

He said the growth in direct taxes helped the government achieve its fiscal deficit target. “The underlying fiscal deficit is targeted at 3.7 per cent of GDP, excluding earthquake spending for the current fiscal year, which is slightly higher than the previous year’s deficit level of 4.4 per cent,” Dr Shah said.

He pointed out that higher deficit was targeted to finance the growing Public Sector Development Programme. Pakistan, he said, needed to strengthen its physical and human infrastructure to sustain the growth momentum.