The government has acquired $15.32 billion new foreign loans from multidimensional institutions and profitable banks in the previous fiscal year (2020-21), nearly 47 percent greater than $10.45 billion a year earlier.
In line with the ‘Annual Report on Foreign Economic Assistance 2020-21’ issued by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, from these extra loan contracts, the functionary government contracted a total of around $34.17 billion in its first three years in power. Overall foreign loan payments stood comparatively greater at $35.1 billion during the three years.
According to the statistics, Pakistan contracted $8.41 billion in the economic year 2018-19, followed by $10.45 billion in 2019-20, and $15.32 billion in 2020-21.
Read more: Pakistan took $3.8 billion in new foreign loans during Jul-Oct, up by 18%
Due to this, Pakistan’s peripheral civic liability stood at $85.6 billion as of June 30, 2021, viewing a clear rise of around $7.7 billion (10 percent) as compared to $77.9 billion as of June 30, 2020. At the end of June 2019, the external public debt amounted to $73.4 billion.
The report clarified that a greater pledge in the last fiscal year was made “to mitigate the pressure on the current account deficit, strengthen foreign exchange reserves, enhance external debt servicing capacity and provide requisite financing to water sector development”.
Moreover, the report clarified that from $15.32 billion new contracts in the previous fiscal year $4.66 billion with foreign commercial banks, $6.97 billion worth of funding contracts were penned with multilateral development associates and $187 million with bilateral development partners.
Additionally, the government also lent $2.5 billion from international capital markets via Eurobonds and $1 billion from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), an international trade agency, as a deposit, and the Chinese government’s foreign exchange.
Out of these, a sum of $2 billion (or 13 percent of the total commitments) was reserved by multidimensional development partners as program funding to widen and excavate the fiscal system, expand fiscal management, and control structure to nurture growth and keenness in Pakistan.
