*ISLAMABAD – **Pakistan external debt obligations for FY 2019 have beenestimated at $10.4, media report has revealed.*
Pakistan has sought a crisis response loan of $1 billion from the AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB) to avoid defaulting on its external debt obligationsthat have been estimated at $10.4 billion in the new fiscal year.
Islamabad has formally requested the Manila-based lending agency to providethe loan through a Special-Policy Based Lending (SPBL) instrument,according to sources in the Ministry of Finance.
The SPBL is a crisis response facility offered by the ADB as part of itsinternational rescue efforts to meet foreign payment obligations.
Read Top Stories
It is for the first time in Pakistan’s history that it will avail the SPBLfacility to repay its foreign debt.
The SPBL is used to address external and internal payments crisis byproviding large-scale support as part of an international rescue effort,which includes the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank,according to the ADB’s definition of the facility.
