Pakistan has a mountain of debt; Loan of Rs 12,000 billion in 20 months, Shahbaz lost his sleep

Pakistan Financial Crisis: The Shehbaz Sharif government of Pakistan has released the data of loans taken during its 20 months in office, which clearly highlights the fragile economic condition of the country. According to government data, Pakistan’s total debt has increased by Rs 12,169 billion between March 2024 and October 2025. This simply means that on an average, Pakistan is taking about Rs 20 billion as loan every day.

According to State Bank of Pakistan data, the domestic debt of the federal government has increased by Rs 11,300 billion during this period, while the external debt has increased by Rs 869 billion. Pakistan’s total debt is expected to increase to Rs 76,979 billion by October 2025, while it was Rs 64,810 billion by February 2024.

Rapid increase in household debt

Talking about domestic debt, it was Rs 42,675 billion in February 2024, which increased to Rs 53,975 billion by October 2025. Whereas the external debt was Rs 22,134 billion in February 2024, which will cross the figure of Rs 23,000 billion by October 2025. Experts believe that the sharp increase in domestic debt could deepen the pressure of inflation, interest rates and budget deficit.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has once again opened the treasury for debt-ridden Pakistan. Last week the IMF approved a new loan of $1.2 billion to Pakistan. However, strict conditions have also been attached to this loan. The IMF wants Pakistan to increase tax collection, curb government expenditure and speed up the process of privatization of loss-making government companies.

worrying picture of pakistan

According to the IMF report dated October 15, 2025, Pakistan has already taken a loan of about $ 8.96 billion from the IMF. Continued dependence on IMF programs shows that Pakistan’s economy is still unable to stabilize on its own.

World Bank’s International Debt Report 2025 also presents a worrying picture of Pakistan. According to the report, Pakistan’s total external debt would reach approximately $130 billion in 2024. The situation is such that about 40 percent of the country’s export earnings are being spent only in repaying the loan.

43 percent loan from bilateral countries

The report states that 49 percent of Pakistan’s debt has been taken from multilateral institutions, of which 18 percent is from the World Bank and 16 percent is from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). At the same time, 43 percent loan has been taken from bilateral countries, in which China alone has 23 percent share. Apart from this, 5 percent loan has been taken from Saudi Arabia and about 8 percent loan has been taken from private lenders.

Also read:- Driverless war! America launches secret autonomous weapon, new glimpse of war seen on Red Beach

The World Bank has included Pakistan in the list of countries where the pressure to repay external debt is increasing rapidly. In the current situation, the biggest challenge before Pakistan is to implement economic reforms while managing the debt burden, otherwise the crisis may deepen in the future.