ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s total debts have increased beyond Rs74 trillion during the first six months of the current fiscal year.
According to the Ministry of Finance, from July to December 2024, the volume of domestic debt stood at Rs49.883 trillion. From December to July, the volume of external debt was Rs24.130 trillion, while the total government debt exceeded Rs67 trillion during the first half of the fiscal year.
According to the ministry’s data, domestic debt increased by 5% in the first half of the current fiscal year. By December 2024, domestic debt had reached 67% of the GDP, while Pakistan’s external debt made up 33% of the GDP.
The data also shows that the primary surplus stood at Rs2.8 trillion in the first half of the current fiscal year, compared to Rs1.5 trillion during the same period last year. Interest payments increased by 18% from July to December. A total of Rs5.1 trillion was spent on interest payments in the first half, compared to Rs4.2 trillion during the same period last year.
According to the Ministry of Finance’s statistics, by December 2024, external debt had exceeded $86.62 billion. Government external debt stood at over $78.12 billion. During the first six months of the current fiscal year, national debt increased by 3.9%, while during the same period last year, it had increased by 7%.
During the first six months of the current fiscal year, the primary balance stood at 0.9% for the first time in 20 years.
In the first half, the credit rating and outlook were upgraded from stable to positive. External debt accounted for 32.6% of the total program, and all external debt payments were made entirely through domestic borrowing.
