Pakistan’s central government debt reached Rs76.045 trillion at the end of May 2025, according to official figures released by the State Bank of Pakistan on Friday. This marks an increase of Rs7.131 trillion over 11 months, up from Rs68.914 trillion in June 2024. On a month-over-month basis, debt rose from Rs74.936 trillion in April 2025.
Of the total, Rs53.460 trillion is domestic debt, while Rs22.585 trillion is external debt. Domestic debt rose from Rs47.160 trillion in June 2024 and Rs52.523 trillion in April 2025, accounting for the majority of the year’s overall increase.
Long-term domestic debt made up Rs45.260 trillion of the total, up from Rs36.828 billion in June 2024 and Rs44.132 trillion in April 2025. Within this, permanent debt stood at Rs42.255 trillion, largely driven by federal government bonds at Rs41.373 trillion. These included Pakistan Investment Bonds at Rs35.236 trillion, GOP Ijara Sukuk at Rs6.004 trillion, and Bai-Muajjal of Sukuk at Rs132 billion. Other items under permanent debt included prize bonds worth Rs405 billion and SBP’s on-lending against SDR allocations, which remained unchanged at Rs475 billion.
Unfunded debt stood at Rs2.993 trillion. This included Rs2.916 trillion in savings schemes (net of prize bonds), Rs47 billion under postal life insurance, and Rs30 billion from the General Provident Fund. Foreign currency loans under domestic debt dropped sharply from Rs374 billion in June 2024 to Rs12 billion by May 2025.
Short-term domestic debt was recorded at Rs8.136 trillion, compared to Rs10.248 trillion in June 2024 and Rs8.328 trillion in April 2025. This consisted mainly of market treasury bills at Rs8.035 trillion, treasury bills for replenishment of cash at Rs98 billion, and Bai-Muajjal treasury bills at Rs3 billion.
Naya Pakistan Certificates held by residents—both Islamic and conventional—were recorded at Rs64 billion in May 2025. This shows a decline from Rs87 billion in May 2024 and Rs84 billion in June 2024.
External debt stood at Rs22.585 trillion in May 2025, a slight increase from Rs22.413 trillion in April 2025 and Rs21.754 trillion in June 2024. Of this, Rs22.384 trillion was long-term external debt and Rs201 billion was short-term external debt. These figures explicitly exclude IMF loans and foreign exchange liabilities, as noted in the SBP’s reporting footnotes.
The weighted average customer exchange rate for the Pakistani rupee was Rs282.0006 per US dollar at the end of May 2025, reflecting a continued gradual depreciation from Rs280.9739 in April 2025 and Rs278.3668 in June 2024.
As of May 2025, domestic debt accounted for approximately 70.3 percent of total central government debt, while external debt made up 29.7 percent. The data show that the increase in central government debt over the past year was primarily driven by long-term domestic borrowing, particularly through government bonds and savings instruments.
