KARACHI (The Thursday Times) — Pakistan’s central government debt fell by Rs936.6 billion in the first quarter of the 2026-27 financial year to Rs82.66 trillion at the end of September, State Bank of Pakistan data show, as the government cut its borrowing at home.
The debt had stood at Rs83.6 trillion at the end of June. The fall of 1.1% came entirely from domestic debt, which dropped by Rs1.64 trillion, or 2.75%, to Rs57.76 trillion as short-term borrowing and permanent debt both declined.
External debt moved the other way. It rose by Rs699.6 billion, or 2.9%, to Rs24.9 trillion, mainly on foreign inflows, according to the central bank’s figures. That series leaves out IMF loans and foreign exchange liabilities.
Permanent domestic debt, made up mostly of long-term government bonds, fell by Rs578.1 billion to Rs44.14 trillion, and long-term domestic debt as a whole fell by Rs484.1 billion to Rs47.92 trillion, the data show.
Still higher than a year ago
Despite the quarterly fall, central government debt was 7.9% higher than a year earlier. It stood at Rs76.61 trillion at the end of September 2025, so the stock has grown by about Rs6 trillion in twelve months.
The fall came in the same quarter in which the federal and provincial governments ran a combined fiscal surplus of Rs1.27 trillion, provisional Finance Division figures show, which reduced the need to borrow at home even as interest payments kept rising. Read more on the surplus.
Pakistan paid $14.4 billion on its external public debt in 2025-26, including $3.2 billion in interest, Economic Affairs Ministry figures showed earlier this week, while it borrowed $16.2 billion from abroad over the same year.
