Pakistan debts for July-Feb amounts to 59 pc of FY21 annual budget

A debt-ridden Pakistan has received a total of USD 7.21 billion in total external inflows from multiple financing sources during the period of July 2020 to February 2021, according to a report by Foreign Economic Assistance.

The total numbers amount to about 59 per cent of the country's annual budget estimates for this fiscal year, which stands at USD 12.23 billion, ARY News reports.

This year's figures saw an increase e of 8 per cent as compared to figures for last year, where the government borrowed 51 per cent of its annual budget.

The federal finance ministry on Saturday said that USD 1.3 billion of the total debt were meant for budgetary support to restructure Pakistan's economy, and USD 3.1 billion were to repay maturing foreign commercial loans, reported ARY News.

About USD 399 million were for commodity financing of the government, and the rest USD 1 billion were from China received as safe deposits in Pakist banks, according to reports.

The debt servicing of funds borrowed earlier in the same period stood at USD 3.47 billion, the ministry said.

Last month, the Imran Khan government received USD 6.7 billion in gross foreign loans in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, including a new commercial loan of USD 500 million from China last month, said the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

( With inputs from ANI )