Flows from abroad surge 59pc in July

Pakistan began the new fiscal year with foreign inflows of $695 million in July, a 59 per cent increase compared to the same month last year. This boost came from $675m in foreign loans and $19m in grants, reflecting a significant rise from last year’s $426m in loans and $10.5m in grants. The uptick in inflows comes after the finalisation of Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which had been delayed following the approval of the federal budget. Despite this, the government was able to achieve robust growth in both loan and grant categories in July. The target for foreign inflows in the current fiscal year has been set at $19.9 billion, slightly higher than the $19.4bn target for the previous year. This includes $6.4bn from multilateral and bilateral lenders, $400m in international bonds, $3.1bn in foreign commercial loans, as well as substantial time deposits from Saudi Arabia and China.