Pakistan's foreign debt at record high, country plunged into economic chaos
Feb 25, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], February 25 : Pakistan's economy is already crumbling and amid this, the country's Foreign Debt has jumped to a record USD 13.1 billion in the first seven months of the current fiscal year.
Plunging the country into economic chaos, Pakistan, especially under Imran Khan's new borrowing instrument named Naya Pakistan Certificates is seeing much more expensive foreign loans than before.
Furthermore, no assets were created with these loans to have a sustainable source to pay them back to foreign creditors, reported The Express Tribune.
The State Bank of Pakistan's (SBP) data showed that it also received nearly USD 1.3 billion highly expensive loans.
The USD 1.3 billion loans under the Naya Pakistan Certificates from July-January FY22 were acquired at a 7 per cent interest rate in dollar terms while the return in local currency was up to 11 pc, reported the newspaper.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs reported on Wednesday that it booked gross foreign loans of USD 11.8 billion in the July-January period of the fiscal year 2021-22.
The country is in a debt trap and the Imran Khan government is looking for new debt instruments. He is also struggling to find ways to increase the FDI.
The existing debt products seem insufficient to meet the growing borrowing requirements and the country is sliding down economic chaos.
