PTI Govt conducting ‘highest’ external Debt Repayment & Servicing: Hammad

While responding to the newly released annual report on foreign economic assistance (FY 2019-20), Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar highlighted that during FY19-20, the present government paid $10.4 billion on account of debt servicing of external public loans.

This also includes a principal payment of $8.5bn and $1.9bn in interest payments.

The federal minister said that the PTI government is conducting the highest external debt repayment and servicing ever done by any government. “Despite this high debt retirement, pace of external debt rise is slower than during the last years of PML-N government, and forex reserves are also rising,” he said in a tweet post on Saturday.

As per the Ministry of Economic Affairs Division (EAD) annual report on foreign economic assistance (FY 2019-20), Pakistan's total external public debt stood at $77.9 billion as of June 30, 2020 compared to $73.4 billion a year ago, registering 6 percent growth,.

It noted that as of June 30, 2020, 70 percent of total external public debt consists of loans at fixed interest rates while remaining 30 percent loans are obtained on floating interest rates.

The report further stated that during fiscal year 2019-20, the government of Pakistan signed new agreements worth $10.447 billion with various development partners and foreign commercial banks as compared to $ 8.4 billion a year before, registering growth of 23.8 percent. Under the new agreements, the development partners are likely to disburse the committed amount in the next five to six years.

Out of this, 99 percent of the new commitments were for the loans and rest of the 1 percent was for the grants commitments. Out of total new agreements, $6.791 billion worth of financing agreements were signed with multilateral development partners, $3.463 billion with foreign commercial banks and $193 million with bilateral development partners.