Pakistan’s debt is growing fast. In just one week, by March 14, 2025, the government took on an extra Rs324.42 billion in loans, bringing the total borrowing for this fiscal year to nearly Rs295 billion, according to the central bank’s data.
So, where’s all this money going? Most of it—around Rs353.82 billion—was used for budgetary support, which basically covers the government’s daily running costs. At the same time, they’ve been working on paying off some of their previous debts. They cleared Rs28.2 billion for commodity-related loans and Rs1.2 billion for other smaller expenses.
For the entire fiscal year so far, the government has borrowed a staggering Rs599.37 billion just for budgetary support. When it comes to paying off commodity-related debts, they’ve managed to retire Rs303.63 billion.
Now, this money doesn’t just appear out of thin air. The government has two main places it borrows from: the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and scheduled banks. They’ve actually paid back Rs464.65 billion to the SBP this year.
But on the flip side, they’ve borrowed even more from scheduled banks—a hefty Rs1.06 trillion so far. Out of this, the federal government alone has borrowed Rs1.27 trillion, while the provinces have managed to repay Rs206.25 billion.
In simple terms, the government is constantly borrowing to keep things running, while also trying to repay some of its past loans—a delicate balancing act that’s ongoing as the fiscal year progresses.
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