Daily Times

The federal government has released details of national and foreign debt up to June this year, as reported by the Ministry of Finance.

The data was presented to the National Assembly.

As of June this year, Pakistan’s domestic debt stood at Rs71 trillion, comprising over Rs47 trillion in domestic loans and more than Rs24 trillion in foreign debt. This means that 66% of the total debt is domestic, while 34% is foreign.

Domestic debt is being acquired through government securities, external loans, development partners, and commercial institutions. The Ministry of Finance has also outlined a repayment schedule extending from 2024 to 2040.

For the fiscal year 2024, debt repayments are set at Rs18.7 trillion, followed by Rs8.7 trillion in 2025.

In 2026, repayments will total Rs7.6 trillion, and Rs4.3 trillion in 2027.

Subsequent years will see Rs6 trillion in 2028, Rs8.4 trillion in 2029, Rs2.4 trillion in 2030, Rs2.6 trillion in 2031, and over Rs1 trillion in 2032.

In the first month of the current financial year, key macroeconomic indicators demonstrated resilience, with consumer-based inflation decreasing, the current account balance improving, and revenue collection surpassing targets.

According to the ‘Monthly Economic Update and Outlook August 2024’, issued by the Ministry of Finance on Friday, the agricultural credit disbursement recorded an increase of 24.8 percent during fiscal year 2024 to Rs 2,216 billion compared to the last year.

A significant rise in the import of agriculture machinery and implements by 122.8 percent to $ 91.3 million during the period under review indicates a continued boost in investment in farming technology, paving the way for enhanced productivity and efficiency in the agriculture sector.

The Large Scale Manufacturing Sector registered positive growth of 0.9 percent in fiscal year 2024 against the contraction of 10.3 percent last year. CPI inflation recorded at 11.1 percent on Year-on-Year basis in July 2024 as compared to 12.6 percent in previous month, and 28.3 percent in July 2023.

On a month-on-month (M-o-M) basis, it increased by 2.1 percent in July 2024 compared to an increase of 0.5 percent in the previous month.

The government managed to reduce the fiscal deficit to 6.8% of GDP in FY2024, down from 7.8% last year. The primary balance showed a surplus of 0.9% of GDP, in contrast to a deficit of 1.0% of GDP in FY2023. The fiscal performance remained robust due to the prudent measures.

Total revenues grew by 38.0 percent due to a notable increase in both tax and non-tax collection, whereas the non-tax collection grew by 75.4 percent to Rs 3183.3 billion in fiscal 2024 against Rs.1814.8 billion last year. Federal Board of Revenue collection growth continued its upward trajectory and surpassed the target by Rs.3.8 billion set for July 2024 as the net tax collection grew by 23 percent with tax collection at Rs.659.8 billion from Rs.538.4 billion last year.

The external account position improved due to tangible increase in exports and remittances despite upsurge in imports as during the month of July the current account deficit shrank to $0.2 billion compared to $ 0.7 billion last year. Goods exports increased by 12.9 percent, reaching $2.4 billion, while imports recorded at $4.8 billion, compared to $4.1 billion last year (16.3% growth).