KP’s foreign debt soars to Rs632 billion

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has secured additional foreign loans amounting to Rs102 billion from various international financial institutions, including the Asian Development Bank (ADB) over the past six months, adding to the total volume of foreign debt to Rs632 billion.

According to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s documents, the volume of foreign debt of the province was Rs530 billion as of June 2023, which was 46.55 per cent higher than the Rs359 billion in loans from the previous fiscal year, ending June 2022.

Sources said that the provincial government took an additional Rs102 billion in loans from international financial institutions from July 2023 to December 2023, pushing the province’s foreign debt to Rs632 billion.

Also read: PTI’s legacy: KP’s debt soars to Rs530 billion in five years

Provincial Finance Adviser Muzammil Aslam said that these loans have been taken for the ongoing development projects in the province.

Official documents reveal that from July 2022 to June 30, 2023, agreements had been made to borrow an additional Rs89 billion from various global financial institutions, including the ADB and the International Development Association (IDA).

These include agreements for Rs24,900 million for the health system from the ADB, Rs895 million for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa water resources development project from the IDA, Rs13,625 million for the emergency flood assistance project from the ADB, and Rs49,800 million for the rural investment support project from the IDA.