ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar on Tuesday informedthe Senate that a sum of $ 37 billion loan would be retired in the nextfour and half years.
Responding to various supplementary questions during question hour, the minister said out of said loan, $ 9.2 billion would be retired during thisyear.
He said the incumbent government inherited the excessive loans and effortswere being made to put the country in right direction.
He said owing to steps taken by the government, current deficit account andtrade deficit account had witnessed persistent decrease.
To another question, the minister said that Rs.27,376 billion domestic and$ 3,395 million external loans have been paid since July 1, 2018 to February 28, 2019. Around $ 1.2 billion interest has also been paid on the loans during the said period, he added.
To a question, Hammad Azhar said the government obtained Rs 1,185 billionnet domestic loans during September 2018 to January 2019 while $ 1,758million, comprising $ 1,682 million as foreign loans and $ 77 million asforeign grants, were received during the said period.
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He said domestic debt was primarily utilized for budgetary support thatincludes infrastructure and development needs as well as debt servicing ofthe country. Meanwhile, foreign borrowing was required to service existingdebt, finance essential imports, stabilize external reserves to maintainexternal account sustainability in global context, he added.
He said foreign borrowing was also used to supplement the domestic resources required to accelerate the pace of economic development andalso make positive contribution towards developing the country’s infrastructure base.
The Minister said apart from the above, $ 3 billion as balance of paymentsupport for State Bank of Pakistan had been obtained from Saudi Arabia and$ billion from UAE.
