Pakistan paid $2.7b in interest to IMF alone. Can it ever break free?

Pakistan's growing foreign debt burden continues to weigh heavily on the national economy, with the country paying billions of dollars annually in interest to international lenders, mainly the International Monetary Fund (IMF). According to the Pakistan Industrial and Traders Association Front (PIAF), Pakistan has paid the equivalent of $2.69 billion in interest under various IMF programmes, including $401.24 million Special Drawing Rights (SDR) in additional charges from 2008 to June 2025, a staggering reminder of how deeply entrenched the nation has become in external borrowing. Speaking on the issue, PIAF Chairman Syed Mehmood Ghaznavi warned that Pakistan could not stand on its own feet without freeing itself from the trap of foreign loans. He said that instead of relying on repeated bailout packages, the government should immediately implement fiscal discipline.