Finance Ministry reveals details of external debts over last five years

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Finance presented details of the external debts of Pakistan during the last five years in the National Assembly, ARY News reported.

According to the details submitted by the Ministry of Finance in the National Assembly, a total of US$57.027 billion in foreign loans were taken during the last five years by the federal government (both Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s government and Pakistan Democratic Movement’s government ).

According to the details submitted in the National Assembly on external debts of Pakistan, the Ministry of Finance received over US$9.08 billion in loans for development projects during the period.

It added that the Ministry of Finance paid US$3.09 billion in interest on loan repayment.

The Ministry of Finance added that it paid US$880 million in interest on loans received for projects during this period.

Earlier on August 30, it was reported that Pakistan secured debt rollover commitments from China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a year.

Quoting a Bloomberg’s story, ARY News reported that Pakistan last month reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF for a new $7 billion loan program.

But the South Asian nation reportedly needed financing commitments from bilateral donors to get a final nod from the IMF board for the fresh bailout.

“Pakistan has secured commitments from China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to roll over debt for a year,” a Bloomberg report said on Tuesday. “Pakistan has $12 billion in bilateral loans that have been extended for the past few years.”

“We are quite hopeful that the staff-level agreement will be converted into a board approval by the end of the month,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said.