Pakistan's unabated borrowing poses economic challenges, warns UNDP
Jan 28, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], January 28 : Providing an overview of Pakistan's policy priorities, regulatory environment, and its private sector development, a UN report warned that continued borrowing from multilateral and other sources is posing all sorts of economic and political challenges in the country.
"A new report on private investments for Pakistan's sustainable development warns that continued borrowing from multilateral and other sources is posing all sorts of economic and political challenges while external development grants are rapidly shrinking," Dawn reported.
According to the Pakistani publication, the situation calls for an exploration of resources from the private sector, as well as non-traditional regional partners, emphasizing the 'Pakistan SDG Investment Report 2021' published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The report was launched on Wednesday at a ceremony in Islamabad chaired by the country's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
The report notes that the country aims to create strategic partnerships with international investors looking for impact investments, particularly in the areas of climate change and climate financing, SMEs and industrial development, ICTs, healthcare and education, and transportation and logistics, Dawn reported.
"Though innovative partnerships seem to be the progressive way forward as some important new donors like China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are already providing financing to Pakistan's social sectors, private investors looking for social impact should therefore look at partnering with regional development partners to ensure targeted transactions and mutual learning opportunities," read the report.
Meanwhile, the report suggests that risk guarantees and the securitisation of receivables could provide additional comfort to financial market participants.
The UNDP report went on to say that financing for development is one of the greatest challenges faced by developing countries, and in the case of Pakistan, the pressure of providing jobs and quality of services to a young population, as well as implementing safety nets for the poorest segments of society, requires a much wider pool of financing than what is available through the State, Dawn reported.
