Pakistan’s foreign borrowing falls 36pc in 11 months

By Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan borrowed $8.613 billion from various sources, including $900 million from foreign commercial banks, in the first 11 months of the 2022-23 fiscal year, down 36 percent from the same period a year earlier, official data showed on Tuesday.

The borrowing does not include rollovers of $6 billion in deposits from China and Saudi Arabia and refinancing of a $1.3 billion Chinese loan, the Economic Affairs Division data showed.

The country received $1.166 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during July-May, it said. Excluding the IMF loan, the borrowing was $7.447 billion, compared with $13.539 billion a year ago.

The government has budgeted foreign assistance of $22.817 billion for the current fiscal year ending on June 30, including $7.5 billion from foreign commercial banks.

Pakistan received $4.453 billion from multilateral lenders, $1.350 billion from bilateral donors, and $742.94 million from a scheme called “Naya Pakistan Certificate” for overseas Pakistanis, the data showed.

The Asian Development Bank disbursed $2.036 billion, while China provided $128.03 million in project loans. Saudi Arabia gave $1.082 billion under an oil facility agreement.

The World Bank’s International Development Association lent $1.389 billion and its International Bank for Reconstruction and Development gave $170.32 million.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank disbursed $555.96 million and the Islamic Development Bank gave $177.81 million, including a short-term loan of $161 million.

Pakistan’s external debt and liabilities stood at $115.7 billion at the end of March, up 3 percent from June 2020, according to the central bank.