The National Assembly was informed on Thursday that the federal government has to return external loans worth US$ 28.2 billion by the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-23.
Responding to a question by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) lawmaker Muhammad Afzal Khokhar, the Minister for Finance and Revenue apprised the House that besides the external loans, the government also intends to pay back Rs 12.261 billion domestic loans from FY 2019-20 to FY 2022-23. The minister further told that the government intends to borrow Rs 1.9 trillion including 0.8 trillion in domestic debt and rs 1.1 trillion in external debt for the financing of its fiscal deficit from January to July 2020.
How will Pakistan’s economy improve?
By now almost everyone acknowledges that the consumption-driven growth model that Pakistan has come to rely on to achieve high growth rates is unsustainable. Most commentators also agree that Pakistan must shift towards exports as the key driver of growth. This narrative has given significant room to the present Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government to implement necessary stabilisation measures aimed at containing consumption while, at the same time, providing incentives to export industries.