External debt surpasses historic high of $122b

Pakistan’s external debt and liabilities have surpassed the historic high of $122 billion recorded by the end of last fiscal year (FY21), the National Standing Committee on Economic Affairs was told on Tuesday.

The panel met under the chairmanship of Mir Khan Muhammad Jamali.

Briefing the panel on the country's foreign debt and repercussions of currency devaluation, Additional Secretary for Economic Affairs Zulfiqar Haider said that external debt and liabilities (EDL) stood at $96 billion as of June 30, 2018, and jumped to $26 billion under the three years of the incumbent government.

He said Pakistan was bound by a deadline to repay $3.785 billion to Paris Club. However, the Paris Club had recently relaxed the deadline and announced to extend it keeping in view the ongoing pandemic's impact on economies.

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MNA Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh pointed out that at the time extension was announced the rate of dollar was Rs50 cheaper, expressing concerns that the country would have to suffer due to change in exchange rates.

The committee was told that more than $22.37 billion was borrowed from international financial institutions for 124 projects.

It was said that during the Covid-19 crisis, the Economic Affairs Division had arranged a $4.1 billion loan and purchased vaccines worth $653 million.

However, the secretary contended that the statistics regarding the loans were of a “sensitive” nature and therefore merited an in-camera session for an extensive rundown. Jamali called for an in-camera session on the matter.