Pakistan’s total debt, liabilities rise by nearly 11 per cent over the past year

WEB DESK: Pakistan’s total debt and liabilities reached Rs84.91 trillion in the fiscal year 2024, marking a 10.97 per cent increase from Rs76.51 trillion in FY2023, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on August 15, 2024.

This total equates to 80.1 per cent of the country’s GDP, a reduction from the previous year’s 91.2 per cent, reflecting the impact of a higher base effect.

The breakdown of this figure shows that total debt amounted to Rs81.93 trillion, while liabilities were Rs4.64 trillion.

The country’s debt is categorised into three main components: domestic debt, public sector enterprise (PSE) debt, and external debt, standing at Rs47.16 trillion, Rs1.71 trillion, and Rs33.06 trillion respectively.

External debt, which includes obligations to the IMF, intercompany loans from foreign investors, and both government and non-governmental external debts, saw a slight increase of 0.12 per cent from Rs33.02 trillion in the previous year.

Notably, debt owed to the IMF rose by 14.3 per cent year-on-year, reaching Rs2.33 trillion in FY2024.

The central bank’s data also indicates that total liabilities, encompassing both external and domestic components, grew by 1.22 per cent year-on-year to Rs4.64 trillion during the review period.

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