By Muhammad Luqman
Each Pakistani owes Rs95,000 in debt with the country’s foreign debt and liabilities touching the staggering level of US $58 billion – around Rs6.11 trillion, according to information provided by finance ministry .
Documents presented by the ministry to the parliament show that until December 31, 2016, the country’s domestic debt stands at Rs12.31 trillion or $117 billion.
The net public or combined debt comes to Rs18.44 trillion or Rs117 billion. As per these statistics, each Pakistani now owes Rs94,890.
The finance ministry’s documents show that between July 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017, the government borrowed Rs 819.1 billion from banks.
It borrowed Rs734.62 billion of this amount from the State Bank of Pakistan and Rs84.50 billion from commercial banks.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s government obtained a whopping $35 billion in new loans during his four-year tenure to repay maturing debt and keep official foreign currency reserves at a level which could give a sense of economic stability to investors.
About $17 billion or nearly half of the total loans obtained from July 2013 to June 2017 were utilised to repay the previous debt, shows statistics maintained by the finance ministry. The government added net $18 billion to the country’s total external debt and liabilities – the highest amount added by any government during its tenure.
