Debt-to-GDP ratio falls to 26pc: SBP governor

Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Jameel Ahmad on Wednesday said Pakistan’s external debt burden has begun to ease, with the debt-to-GDP ratio falling from 31 percent to 26 percent. Speaking to the media at the Pakistan Women Entrepreneurship Day 2025 ceremony at SBP head office, he said this is the first meaningful improvement in several years. He added that Pakistan has not added to its external debt stock since 2022, breaking a long trend of steady annual increases. The Governor SBP noted that previously between 2015 and 2022 the external debt had been rising by an average of USD 6.4 billion every year. “The direction has changed. We’re now seeing stability instead of continuous accumulation,” he said.