International News: On one hand, the condition of Pakistan is going from bad to worse. The economy is completely falling apart, but despite all this, Pakistan is succeeding in raising loans from foreign countries. Be it the IMF or China, they are giving a lot of loans to Pakistan. According to the data, Pakistan has obtained a loan of about 26.7 billion US dollars (7.58 lakh crore Pakistani rupees) in the financial year 2024-25.
This is the situation when the condition of Pakistan is bad. The GDP of the country is continuously falling. Inflation is at its peak. People are not getting jobs. According to the data of the State Bank of Pakistan and its Finance Ministry, Pakistan has obtained a loan of $26.7 billion in the financial year 2024-25. Which is more than the year 2023-24.
Getting help from these countries
The countries that have helped Pakistan are America, China, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Apart from this, Pakistan has also taken huge loans from the IMF. Now the question is why is a country whose economy is going downhill being helped continuously? In an exclusive interview with TV9 Digital, economist Sharad Kohli said that these countries will continue to help Pakistan in the future as well. According to Kohli, Pakistan's economy may worsen in the coming days. How long will Pakistan continue to run on loans? is a big question.
Getting financial help like this
According to data released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Tuesday, out of the total foreign loan amount of US$ 26.7 billion, only US$ 3.4 billion, or about 13 percent, was received for project financing. According to the details, the Ministry of Economic Affairs deposited US$ 11.9 billion in the federal government accounts, which is about US$ 1.2 billion more than the previous fiscal year.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) disbursed US$ 2.1 billion, while cash deposits from Saudi Arabia, China, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait amounted to US$ 12.7 billion. Pakistan's Finance Ministry managed to obtain commercial loans of US$ 4.3 billion, most of which were refinanced Chinese loans and others backed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) guarantees.
Why more money than expected?
Talking about the Asian Development Bank, Pakistan has received a loan of US $2.1 billion from here, which is 500 million more than the budget. Different institutions contributed a total of US $6.9 billion, including US $2.1 billion received from the IMF. The World Bank issued US $ 1.7 billion and has not announced any new budget support loan for the current financial year 2025-26. The Islamic Development Bank disbursed US $716 million.
Saudi Arabia gave us $200 million under the Secured Oil Financing Facility at six percent interest, making it a very expensive loan. According to the Ministry of Finance, Pakistan's loan-GDP ratio and gross financing requirement-GDP ratio are currently above sustainable levels. Gross financing requirement is considered unstable when it exceeds 15 percent of GDP.
