Pakistan secures just $9.8bn in external loans during FY24

July 26, 2024 (MLN): The country secured external financing worth $9.81 billion in fiscal year 2023-24 against budget estimates of $17.62bn from multiple financing sources, the latest monthly report by the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) showed.

The total amount comprised $9.62bn in loans and the remaining $195 million in grants from various sources.

In the month of June 2024 alone, the external financing stood at $2.26bn.

Out of the total financing amount in FY24, the government obtained a $6.78bn loan for non-project aid, which was in the form of program/budgetary support assistance to restructure Pakistan's economy.

While $3.03bn was obtained for project aid.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs noted that the country continued to depend on foreign commercial borrowing as it amounted to $1.02bn during the year.

This was obtained through Naya Pakistan Certificate.

Meanwhile, the government managed to secure $999m through foreign commercial banks. However, it fell short of the government's budget estimates of $4.5bn for fiscal year 2023-24.

Going into details made available by EAD, the disbursement from bilateral and multilateral development partners totaled $5.2bn during the year.

Although these inflows helped to improve foreign exchange reserves, they fell significantly short of the government's budget estimates of $6.22bn.

During the year, the foreign assistance obtained through multilateral sources totaled nearly $4.28bn against the budget estimates of $5.34bn.

While the total financing through bilateral development partners stood at $919.43m in FY24, surpassing the budget estimates of $894.80m.

The largest disbursement was from Saudi Arabia, worth $661.47m (including Saudi Arabia's oil facility).

Moreover, Pakistan received $69.14m from China, $49.57m from France, $40.18m from the USA, $36.48m from Japan, $35.64m from Korea, and $26.93m from Germany.

Copyright Mettis Link News