ISLAMABAD: Finance Division Spokesman on Friday said the government had to pay back $ 3.6 billion to foreign creditors against external public debt over the remaining period of the current fiscal year (2017-18).
Referring to news reports in a section of media on Friday wherein it is stated that Pakistan had to pay back $ 6 billion in the next six months, the spokesman clarified that total payments against external public debt during the fiscal year 2017-18 were $ 6 billion out of which $ 2.4 billion had already been paid.
“Therefore, the government has to pay $ 3.6 billion over the remaining period of the current fiscal year,” he clarified.
The spokesman said that external public debt repayment obligations for Pakistan were not more than an average of $ 5 billion per annum until 2022.
Keeping in view the track record of the country, this amount of repayments should not raise any concern as Pakistan had successfully met higher repayment obligations even with a much lower volume of foreign exchange reserves in the past.
Furthermore, external inflows are expected to be sufficient to meet repayment obligations, the spokesman added.
