Foreign debt inflows surge to $12.4bn

Pakistan’s foreign debt inflows surged to $12.4 billion in FY25, largely due to a last-minute $3.4bn commercial borrowing from foreign banks to meet an International Monetary Fund (IMF) benchmark, according to the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) report released on Tuesday. The EAD data showed that almost 43pc of the total foreign assistance —amounting to $5.25bn — was disbursed in June alone, compared to $6.89bn in the preceding 11 months (July-May). The sharp uptick was driven by commercial loans from institutions in China and the UAE. Including rollovers and cash deposits maintained with the central bank, total external inflows for FY25 reached approximately $24bn. The budgeted target for the year was $19.4bn, including $9bn in rollovers from friendly countries, though the EAD did not specify how much of the targeted rollovers were actually realised.