ISLAMABAD: From July to March of the 2023-24 fiscal year, Pakistan’s government paid a total of $8.08 billion in debt servicing for external public loans, according to the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) quarterly report.
This amount includes $5.363 billion in principal repayments and $2.723 billion in interest payments.
The largest payment was made to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), totaling $1.7 billion, with $1.239 billion paid towards the principal and $461 million in interest charges.
Saudi Arabia was the second-largest recipient, receiving a total of $1.153 billion from Pakistan. This amount included $1.107 billion in principal repayments and $46 million in interest.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) also received significant outflows, totaling $1.033 billion for the nine-month period of FY24. The World Bank received $905 million in external public debt servicing from Pakistan during the same period.
Additionally, $1.062 billion was paid as interest charges to Foreign Commercial Banks, Bonds, China Safe Deposits, and KSA Deposits.
Earlier, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Jameel Ahmad, announced that Pakistan’s total outstanding debt for the fiscal year 2025 (FY25) stands at $26 billion.
Pakistan has secured significant debt relief from its friendly nations, enabling the country to manage its external debt obligations more effectively.
During a National Assembly Standing Committee meeting, it was revealed that these friendly countries will roll over more than $16 billion in loans, leaving Pakistan with only $10 billion to repay by the end of the next fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2025.
For the current fiscal year (FY24), the SBP has already paid $1.5 billion towards the country’s external debt, with $8.5 billion still outstanding. In the previous fiscal year (FY23), the SBP paid $12.5 billion, while the country’s total external debt reached $130 billion.
Finance Secretary Imdad Ullah Bosal informed the committee that Pakistan would receive its first tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after securing a $4.4 billion rollover of Chinese commercial loans.
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