During the past six months, the government acquired $10.4 billion in form of loans. According to a report by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, $9.3 billion were taken as gross foreign loan disbursements. An additional $1.1 billion came from overseas Pakistanis through Naya Pakistan Certification.
The loans were taken during the first half of the current fiscal year (July-December), which is 78 per cent ($4.5 billion) higher than last year’s corresponding period. The government claimed that new loans were taken to pay off past debts, but the external debt payments decreased by 23.3pc ($2.1 billion). The $3 billion loan from Saudi Arabia was not included in the $9.3 billion foreign loans reported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Through foreign commercial loans, Pakistan received $2 billion while $1.1 billion from Dubai Bank. The Standard Chartered Bank gave a $487 million loan and Credit Suisse AG provided $343 million as loan. The World Bank disbursed $932 million and the Asian Development Bank provided $1.1 billion. Islamic Development Bank released $932 million while the NBP Bahrain gave loans of $10 million. A publicly guaranteed debt of $291 million was booked by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Around $8.7 billion (84pc) of the loans were utilised for non-productive errands. The amount was used for foreign exchange reserves’ building, crude oil import, and budget financing.