The federal government has recently borrowed some US 2.5 billion dollars through the auction of Sukuk and Eurobond in the international market to build its depleting foreign exchange reserves, he added. Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said in the long-term, Pakistan may face some problems and need more foreign inflows to maintain its forex reserves, which surged to US 21 billion dollars in the first week of December after receiving inflows of US 2.5 billion dollars of Sukuk Bond and Eurobond.
According to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the country's total external debt servicing stood at $2.09 billion during the first quarter (July-Sept) of FY18. The total external debt and servicing includes $1.71 billion of principal and $383 million of interest payment, he said.
Similarly, on principal side, external debt servicing under public debt stood at $904 million, some $32 million on Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) guaranteed debt, $53 million on PSEs non-guaranteed debt and $51 million on private non-guaranteed debt. Some $671 million were paid on account of short-term debt servicing. Debt servicing on account of interest includes some $31 million to the IMF, $8 million to Paris Club and $90 million of multilaterals, he added.
PIAF chief said that the decline in the State Bank of Pakistan's reserves also reflects lower inflows and higher foreign payments. Inflows from donor agencies remained much lower than projections, while debt servicing moved up compared to last year, he added. The country's total external debt servicing exceeded $2 billion mark during the first quarter of current fiscal year (FY18), he pointed out.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017