Pakistan’s External Debt Surpasses $138 Billion as Interest Payments Surge 84%
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s total external debt and liabilities have exceeded $138 billion, while interest payments on foreign loans have surged by 84 percent over the past three years, according to an official government document.A report by the Economic Affairs Division revealed that Pakistan paid $3.59 billion in interest on external debt last year alone — an…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s total external debt and liabilities have exceeded $138 billion, while interest payments on foreign loans have surged by 84 percent over the past three years, according to an official government document.
A report by the Economic Affairs Division revealed that Pakistan paid $3.59 billion in interest on external debt last year alone — an increase of $1.67 billion compared to 2022, highlighting the mounting cost of the country’s borrowing.
The document states that interest payments were made to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and commercial banks. Saudi Arabia and China also received interest on their safe deposits held with Pakistan.
Pakistan’s total annual debt servicing — including both principal repayments and interest — stood at $13.32 billion. While the country’s net external debt rose by $1.71 billion last year, Pakistan did manage to repay $9.73 billion in principal debt over the past three years.
The figures underscore the growing fiscal pressure on Islamabad as it navigates a fragile economic recovery under an IMF programme, with debt servicing consuming an increasingly significant share of the country’s foreign exchange earnings.
