The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has witnessed a significant growth of 20 per cent in revenue collection during the first quarter of the current fiscal year, Radio Pakistan reported.

Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Rana Mohammad Afzal Khan told this to the National Assembly on Wednesday, while responding to a question in connection with the governmental measures to curtail expenses and increase revenue, reported the state-run radio service.

Khan said that exports, remittances and foreign direct investment have shown positive trend during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. "Exports have increased by 20pc and workers' remittances by over 15pc." The foreign exchange reserves are about $20 billion, the secretary was quoted as saying.

The FBR has launched an intensive drive to increase the total number of return filers this year. Last year, 1.2 million people filed their tax returns. An official source told Dawn that the revenue growth recorded in the first quarter was mainly led by massive growth in revenue collection from the petroleum sector.

Rana Afzal maintained that with the increased collection of taxes, the deficit was brought down to 5.8 per cent during the last financial year. He said the fiscal deficit has been budgeted at 4.1pc for the current fiscal year.

Rana Afzal informed the house that the country's total debt stands at 62.5 billion dollars. He said the government has been following Debt Limitation and Responsibility Act. The Parliamentary Secretary said the annual development plan has been increased from Rs695bn in 2012-13 to Rs1.6 trillion in 2016-17.