Pakistan sets a 4% economic growth target, increases federal government spending limit.

The office of the Prime Minister of Pakistan issued a statement on Wednesday evening, local time, stating that the country's National Economic Council has approved a growth target of 4% for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the new fiscal year starting in July. The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, finalized various economic indicators before the budget announcement on June 12. It was reported that the council decided to cut 25% of funds for provincial governments to increase the disposable funds of the federal government. The statement indicated that the GDP growth rate for this fiscal year, ending in June, in this South Asian country was 3.7%. The meeting also approved a federal development budget of 1 trillion rupees for the new fiscal year.