Pakistan secured $20 billion in foreign loans and grants during the first 11 months of fiscal year 2024–25. This amount surpassed the government’s annual target of $19.2 billion. The Economic Affairs Division (EAD) released this data in a recent report. These inflows helped support the country’s external financing needs amid ongoing economic challenges.
About half of the funds came from old loan rollovers by China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The fresh loans and grants totaled $6.89 billion—down by 9% compared to the same period last year. The drop was mainly due to delays in the IMF programme, which made commercial lenders more cautious. Pakistan did not count IMF disbursements in this figure, as the State Bank records them separately.
In the 11-month period, Pakistan received $3.9 billion in programme loans and $2.98 billion for project financing. Multilateral lenders gave $3.37 billion, while bilateral aid dropped sharply to $487 million. Commercial lenders from the UAE gave $903 million, but that’s still much less than the $3.8 billion target set for the year.
The government also received $1.77 billion from overseas Pakistanis through Naya Pakistan Certificates. This was an increase from $1.05 billion the previous year. The Asian Development Bank provided $1.39 billion, and the World Bank gave $1.23 billion during this period. Inflows improved slightly in May, with $797 million received, higher than previous months.
Despite the improvement, Pakistan still faces a major financing gap. The government aims to raise more funds through bonds and safe deposits. $5 billion is expected from Saudi Arabia and $4 billion from China to meet IMF-related requirements. Officials hope these inflows will help stabilize the economy in the coming months.