Karachi: Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Jameel Ahmad provided assurances that Pakistan will pay all its debts “on time” and that foreign exchange reserves are expected to increase during second half of financial year.

In latest episode of SBP podcast series, Governor SBP clarified that during next seven months only debt of $ 4.7 billion is payable allaying concerns of country defaulting on international financial obligations.

“According to plan devised at beginning of year $ 23 billion was repayable debt and current account deficit was about $ 10 billion which roughly adds up to $ 33 billion,” he explained.

“Out of remaining $ 13 billion, $ 8.3 billion are either government loans or government-related commercial loans and so we expect this amount to be rolled over,” he said while adding that discussions on matter have already taken place on government-to-government basis.

“So, we are roughly left with $ 4.7 billion in loans that we need to pay back,” he stated noting that out of these $ 1.1 billion were commercial loans while $ 3.2 billion were multilateral and other loans that he expected will be paid on time. Rejecting “Negative impression being given by many analysts”, he said that after receiving $ 500 million from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank SBP’s foreign exchange reserves reached $ 7.9 billion. During interview, he made note of global challenges that economy is faced with but expressed confidence in government’s measures to overcome them. He quashed rumours that government was placing import restrictions on petroleum, causing price hikes. “Petroleum and pharmaceuticals are among priority sectors of SBP,” he explained.

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 10 2022

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