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Govt paying huge price of past borrowing as debt servicing rising, $7.3 billion repaid in 9 months

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Country repaid $7.3 billion as principal amount as well as interest payment during nine months of current fiscal year Amount could surge to $10 billion by end of ongoing financial year

ISLAMABAD - The government is paying huge price of past borrowing as the country repaid $7.3 billion as principal amount as well as interest payment during nine months of the current fiscal year.

The debt servicing of the country is rapidly increasing with the passage of the time, which is pushing pressure on the country’s external sector. The break-up of Rs7.3 billion showed that Pakistan had repaid $5.184 billion as principal amount and $2.05 billion as interest payment during nine months (July to March) of the ongoing fiscal year. The massive repayment of loans is eroding the country’s foreign exchange reserves and forcing the government to take new loans.

According to the data of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the country had repaid $2.45 during first quarter (July to September), $2.43 billion in second quarter (October to December) and $2.35 billion in third quarter (January to March) of the current fiscal year, making total payment at $7.3 billion in nine months. Keeping in view the current trend, the amount could surge to $10 billion by the end of ongoing financial year.

The massive repayment is continuously declining the reserves. The foreign exchange reserves of the country held by the SBP have tumbled to $8 billion due to the massive repayment last week. “During the week ending 17 May, SBP’s reserves decreased by $788 million to $8,057.6 million, due to external debt servicing and other official payments,” the SBP stated on Thursday. The overall foreign exchange reserves including of commercial banks have recorded at $15.13 billion.

The government is paying huge amount to repay against previous loans and interest payment. The successive governments had massively borrowed in last 72 years. Pakistan’s total debt and liabilities skyrocketed to Rs35.094 trillion till end March 2019. Total debt of the government in accordance with definition of Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Act (FRDLA) stood at Rs26.368 trillion. Pakistan’s external debt and liabilities surged to $105.84 billion by the end of March 2019 following the massive borrowings made by the successive governments. The country’s debt and liabilities had gone up by $10.6 billion in nine months (July to March) of the ongoing fiscal year, according to the latest figures of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The debt and liabilities had increased to $105.84 billion in March 2019 from $95.24 billion in June 2018, showing an increase of $10.6 billion.

The successive governments in Pakistan had massively borrowed from external as well internal sources to meet the twin deficits including budget and current account. The governments had failed to enhance the country’s exports, which stood at $23 billion only. The incumbent PTI government, which criticized previous governments for borrowing, had also made significant borrowing since coming into power. The government had borrowed $9 billion from three friendly countries in last few months. Pakistan had borrowed $4 billion from China, $3 billion from Saudi Arabia and $2 billion from United Arab Emirates (UAE).

https://nation.com.pk/24-May-2019/govt-paying-huge-price-of-past-borrowing-as-debt-servicing-rising
 
With all the things going on including deficit issue PTI govt was still able to pay back $7.3billion in 10 months? Not bad i will say
 
Corrupt but competent governments of past left this mess for others to clean?
 
The country needs to pay back $37 billion by 2023. Another $30 billion to go
 
The country needs to pay back $37 billion by 2023. Another $30 billion to go

Around $27b in next 2 years. PTI is taking these decisions because they is no other way otherwise they are not stupid to turn public against them within a few months.
 
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Must say that's an incredible amount to pay back, well done. Unfortunately this is just s drop in the ocean for the fight that's ahead.

How did the corrupt but competent allow this to happen?
 
What is it costing Pakistan to service all this debt? Must be a huge chunk of the annual budget.
 
Around $27b in next 2 years. PTI is taking these decisions because they is no other way otherwise they are not stupid to turn public against them within a few months.

The real question is where did this $37 billion go? Imran Khan in Oct 2018 in his address to the nation said that he was auditing where the loans acquired by PPP and PML from 2008 to 2018 went. I wonder if that audit is complete and if the results will be made public
 
What is it costing Pakistan to service all this debt? Must be a huge chunk of the annual budget.

It's estimated to be above 2 trillion rupees in upcoming budget, up 400-500 billion from last year. The total budget last year was around 5.5 trillion and I doubt it would have increased this year by much.
 
I bet we have taken on new loans to pay off these existing loans. But then your not really paying off the loans, you are still on the dock for the same amount that you have repaid right now?
 
With all the fake propaganda going on by nooras and jiyalas i thought it necessary to counter them.

Welcome back, you took it easy after winning the election didn't you :)

I took a bit of break for few months but it's a never ending struggle.
 
I bet we have taken on new loans to pay off these existing loans. But then your not really paying off the loans, you are still on the dock for the same amount that you have repaid right now?
Yup. That's a vicious circle and it is very hard to come out of it.
 
It's estimated to be above 2 trillion rupees in upcoming budget, up 400-500 billion from last year. The total budget last year was around 5.5 trillion and I doubt it would have increased this year by much.

Wow that’s a lot. Add in defence expenditure and 60-70% of Pakistan’s annual spending is gone which doesn’t leave much for the important stuff like health, education etc.

Imran Khan and his government really have been left a complete mess of an economy by the previous administration.
 
It's estimated to be above 2 trillion rupees in upcoming budget, up 400-500 billion from last year. The total budget last year was around 5.5 trillion and I doubt it would have increased this year by much.

What kind of interest does these types loan comes with?
 
What kind of interest does these types loan comes with?

Not sure. There would be multiple sources taken at multiple times. The interest rates aren't usually that high it's just that we are never in a position of paying it back. We take more loans to meet previous payments which just buys us more time at the expense of a bit more debt.
 
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