External debt rises by 20 pc in Pakistan in FY22

According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data, the government's total debt stocks rose by 8 per cent in the first half of the current fiscal (2021-22) which increased the total domestic and external debt to an all-time high of Rs 51.724 trillion in December 2021, up from Rs 47.931 trillion in June 2021, reported Business Recorder. 

Continued borrowing from domestic and external resources for financing the fiscal deficit is increasing the country's debt burden, the report further said citing economists.

The external debt included Rs 14.814 trillion of government external debt, Rs 4.223 trillion non-government debt, and loans of Rs 1.188 trillion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Earlier this month, IMF released a fresh tranche of loans to the tune of USD 1 billion to Pakistan, subject to fulfilling certain conditions. 

Fuel prices and power tariffs in Pakistan are at historic highs as a result. The fresh funds constitute an installment of a USD 6 billion bailout package which the IMF's Executive Board had cleared in July 2019. 

The country is in a debt trap and the Imran Khan government is looking for new debt instruments. He is also struggling to find ways to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). 

The existing debt products seem insufficient to meet the growing borrowing requirements and the country is sliding down economic chaos.