SBP profit, PDL help govt retire Rs1.9tr debt

The government on Wednesday announced that it had retired about Rs1.9 trillion debt while taking advantage of the unprecedented surge in revenues from petroleum development levy (PDL) and the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) profits driven by the highest interest rate and projected further decline in inflation. In its Monthly Economic Update & Outlook (November 2024), the Ministry of Finance (MoF) showed cautious optimism over economic recovery, saying the large-scale manufacturing sector was struggling to strive and hoped the rate of inflation to fall below six per cent next month. In overall terms, the MoF said that economy was not only showing sustained recovery, but actually showed “better than expected improvement” in the first four months by receding inflation, a significant increase in remittances and IT exports, sustained external and fiscal sectors, and a downward trend in interest rate. The recovery across all sectors will support the achievement of the targeted economic outlook in coming quarters.