External debt rises $1.2bn in six months

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s external public debt rose by $1.2 billion in six months to $86.358bn as of September 30, 2023, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MEA). In its first quarterly report on Foreign Economic Assistance (FEA) of the current fiscal year released on Wednesday, the ministry said Pakistan had received total foreign inflows of $3.5bn in July-September 2023 against loan repayments of $1.5bn, resulting in a net inflow of $1.97bn. Around 64 per cent of the total external public debt was obtained from multilateral and bilateral sources having concessional terms and longer maturity, the MEA added. “As of September 30, 2023, the total external public debt of the government was $86.358bn,” it said. The external public debt as of March 31, 2023 amounted to $85.18bn. In comparison, the country had received $2.2bn in loans and repaid $2.06bn during the same period last fiscal year (July-September 2022), leading to net addition of $142 million.