Pakistan: making a “COVID budget” in a struggling economy

Marium Ashfaq and Mohsin Bashir

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, 2020, vol. 33, issue 1, 69-77

Abstract: Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine the fiscal measures undertaken by the Pakistani government to counter the recessionary pressures of the coronavirus pandemic. The authors analyse the economic, social and political factors that have shaped the government's fiscal policy response to this economic shock. Design/methodology/approach - The authors analyse the federal and provincial budget documents for the fiscal year 2020–21 to study the fiscal response of the government. The authors review recent research articles and news pieces to examine the determinants of these budgetary measures. Findings - The government adopted expansionary fiscal policy measures such as reduced taxation and increased government expenditure to counter the recessionary pressures of the pandemic. These measures, however, were largely constrained by macroeconomic issues of high fiscal debt, slow economic growth and low fiscal space and political influences from the military and religious groups. Research limitations/implications - The coronavirus pandemic is an ongoing issue which may pose more threats and elicit more policy responses as it evolves. This research may be extended as the pandemic progresses, to include further policy responses. Originality/value - This research provides insight into the unique problems faced by the Pakistani government during the pandemic, and how it steers the economy despite these limitations.

Keywords: Pakistan; Public budgeting; COVID-19; Crisis budget (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jpbafm:jpbafm-07-2020-0118

DOI: 10.1108/JPBAFM-07-2020-0118

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management is currently edited by Dr Giuseppe Grossi

More articles in Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().