Foreign inflows jump 59% in July to $695 million.
Pakistan Sees 59% Surge in Foreign Inflows with Loans and Grants
Pakistan – (Special Correspondent / Web Desk) – Pakistan started the new financial year with good news. The country received $695 million in foreign inflows during July, which is 59% higher than the same month last year.
Most of this money came from foreign loans worth $675 million and grants of $19 million. Last year, loans were only $426 million, and grants were $10.5 million.
This increase happened after Pakistan finalized its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Although the deal was delayed because of the federal budget, the government still managed to bring in more loans and grants in July.
For this year, Pakistan has set a target of $19.9 billion in foreign inflows, slightly higher than last year’s target of $19.4 billion. This amount will include $6.4 billion from global lenders, $400 million from international bonds, $3.1 billion from commercial loans, and large time deposits from Saudi Arabia and China.
In July 2023, Pakistan received $2.89 billion in foreign loans due to a Stand-By Agreement with the IMF, including $2 billion from Saudi Arabia and $1.2 billion from the IMF, making the total inflows $5.1 billion.
This year, July inflows were $694.53 million, compared to $436.39 million last year. Out of this, $246.47 million was for project financing, which dropped by 20% compared to last year’s $307 million. On the other hand, non-project financing increased sharply to $448 million, almost 250% higher than $129 million a year ago.
Budget support loans also jumped to $196 million in July, compared to only $1.23 million last year. This is a record increase, even though the annual target for budget support is $13.5 billion, which is lower than last year’s $15 billion goal.
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Pakistan also received $100 million from the Saudi Oil Facility in July, against an annual target of $1 billion. The country plans to get $5 billion from global lenders (excluding IMF) this year. In July, $380 million came from multilateral sources, up from $201 million a year ago.
Bilateral lenders provided $118 million in July, slightly more than $108 million last year. Combined inflows from both bilateral and multilateral lenders were $498.3 million in July, compared to $309 million last year.
Remittances from overseas Pakistanis also improved, with $196.2 million received through Naya Pakistan Certificates, up from $128 million last year. The government plans to collect $609 million from these certificates this year.
Pakistan’s $19.9 billion inflow target includes $6.4 billion from global lenders, $400 million in bonds, $3.1 billion from commercial loans, and big deposits from friendly countries — $5 billion from Saudi Arabia and $4 billion from China.
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