Pakistan secured $944.2 million in external financing in November 2024, marking a 127.6% increase compared to October and a 127.0% rise from November last year. The financing consisted of $937.66 million in loans and $6.54 million in grants, as per the latest Economic Affairs Division (EAD) report.
Despite the uptick, cumulative external financing during the first five months of FY25 stood at $2.67 billion—far below the annual budget estimate of $19.39 billion. Last fiscal year, the government had set a foreign assistance target of $17.62 billion but managed to materialise only $9.81 billion.
Key inflows in November included $751.45 million from bilateral and multilateral development partners, contributing to a total of $1.73 billion disbursed during 5MFY25. Multilateral sources provided $743.33 million in November, while bilateral sources added $8.12 million.
Foreign commercial borrowing reached $192.75 million in November and $734.9 million in 5MFY25, facilitated through the Naya Pakistan Certificate. However, no financing was secured through foreign commercial banks during this period, against the budgeted $3.78 billion for FY25.
A significant portion of November’s financing, $725.27 million, was allocated for non-project aid, primarily for program and budgetary support aimed at economic restructuring. Non-project aid loans totalled $1.6 billion in 5MFY25.
The slower-than-expected inflows, while providing some relief to foreign exchange reserves, underscore the challenges in meeting budgetary financing targets as Pakistan navigates economic stabilisation efforts.
