ISLAMABAD: Pakistan procured $40 billion of loans during PML-N’s four-yeartenure till end of October 2017.
The figure is $6.2 billion higher than the one shared with the NationalAssembly last month, reported Express Tribune.
As per data shared by Economic Affairs Division (EAD) with the NationalAssembly Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, gross foreignloan procurement from July 2013-October 2017 was recorded at $34.2 billion.
This $34.2 billion figure excludes the loans obtained from InternationalMonetary Fund, which amounted to $6.2 billion. Loans obtained from IMF areused for balance of payments support and due to lack of coordination, thisdiscrepancy has arisen between EAD and Finance Division.
Adding IMF’s borrowings to the already contracted loans of $34.2 billion inlast four years, the amount touches $40.4 billion and if $2.5 billionraised via Euro and Sukuk bond issuances gets added, the figure reachesaround $43 billion.
The country’s overall external debt and liabilities stood at $85 billion,as of September 2017 and direct obligations stand at $67.2 billion, whichexclude guaranteed and public-sector enterprises debt.
Debt servicing remains a major drag on the federal budget, as the incumbentgovernment failed to create enough non-debt inflows for meeting externalaccount requirements. This is attributable to large domestic and foreignborrowings.
During July-November 2017, the federal government paid Rs625 billion forexternal and domestic debt servicing. The incumbent government hascontracted a net $17.2 billion of external debt, the highest by anygovernment since 1947.
Pakistan during the period of July 2013-October 2017 has paid back $23.2billion to international creditors which includes the IMF.
IMF gave $6.2 billion loan to Pakistan, but the Washington-based lender hasreceived $1.936 billion from Pakistan as per EAD. During financial year2013-14 and 2014-15, major payments were made on back of $7.7 billionprocured from IMF under stand-by arrangement in 2008.
Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB) and Islamic Development Bank(IDB) lent Pakistan over $14.9 billion out of which $7.8 billion havealready been returned to creditors over the course of last four years.
China also lent Pakistan over $7.3 billion in last four and a half years.And Pakistan started repaying its Paris Club loans which ex-PresidentGeneral (retired) Pervez Musharraf had got frozen on account of becoming anally in US-led war on terrorism.
Paris Club has been repaid around $2.536 billion and non-Paris Club membershave received $2.84 billion in repayments from Pakistan.
Since July 2013, Pakistan has so far returned $2.536 billion to Paris Clubmembers. Another amount of $2.84 billion was returned to non-Paris Clubmembers.
EAD’s projections for next five years of Pakistan debt servicing cost(2018-19 to 2022-23) stands at $31.4 billion, out of which $10.7 billionhas to be paid back to multilateral creditors, $5.6 billion to Paris Clubmembers, $5.8 billion to commercial banks, $4.3 billion of bond repaymentsand $4.5 billion to non-Paris Club members.