China Financed 30% of Pakistan’s $100 Billion External Debt Till December 2022: IMF Report

Pakistan’s total external debt stock was recorded at $100.52 billion at end-December 2022, of which $29.59 billion was financed by China. The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Country Report shows that among the bilateral and commercial creditors who’ve lent sizable loans to the cash-strapped South Asian economy to date, China is by far Pakistan’s biggest rescuer with $23.87 billion in bilateral and $5.71 billion commercial contributions. The debt stock of multilateral sources stands at $44.67 billion as of December 2022. The primary gross inflows included $7.616 billion from the IMF, $15.267 billion from Asian Development Bank (including African Development Bank & Inter-American Development Bank), $18.19 billion from World Bank, $1.385 billion from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and $1.548 billion from Islamic Development Bank. Meanwhile, the bilateral debt stock of the country clocked in at $39.93 billion till December 2022, out of which, $8.459 billion was financed by Paris Club. Besides China, other Non-Paris Club creditors that disbursed sizable cash to Pakistan include Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom has cumulatively lent $4.745 billion to the money-deprived nation as of December 2022. The stock of Pakistan Banao Certificates (PBC), Naya Pakistan Certificates (NPC), and BOC deposits (savings) cumulatively clocked in at $693 million as of end-December 2022. Bond yields to date have helped Pakistan raise billions and avoid default on its debt repayments. In the period mentioned above, the country issued dollar-dominated bonds and Shariah-compliant maturities (e.g Sukuk) which helped raise a total of $7.805 billion.