The Government of Pakistan added Rs116.44 billion to its debt during the week ending May 16, 2025, taking total net borrowing for the ongoing fiscal year to Rs1.84 trillion, according to weekly estimates released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Government borrowing is tracked under three broad categories: budgetary support, commodity operations, and others. Of the weekly increase, Rs115.7 billion was borrowed for budgetary support alone. Borrowing for commodity operations amounted to Rs59.15 million, while Rs677.01 million was borrowed under the “others” category.
Cumulatively in FY25, borrowing for budgetary support has now reached Rs2.14 trillion. However, this is partly offset by a net retirement of Rs298.47 billion under commodity operations and Rs1.1 billion under the others segment. These reductions reflect repayments or lower reliance on borrowing in these areas.
In terms of financing sources, the two key channels for budgetary support are the State Bank of Pakistan and scheduled commercial banks. So far in the fiscal year, the government has made a net repayment of Rs362.85 billion to the central bank. This figure includes fresh borrowing of Rs127.13 billion by the federal government, offset by repayments from provincial governments (Rs456.44 billion), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Rs23.4 billion), and Gilgit-Baltistan (Rs10.14 billion).
In contrast, borrowing from scheduled banks remains substantial. The government has borrowed a net total of Rs2.5 trillion from scheduled banks during FY25. This includes Rs2.88 trillion borrowed by the federal government, while the provinces collectively retired Rs381.08 billion.
These weekly debt movements provide insight into the government’s financing patterns, with rising reliance on commercial banks for budgetary needs, alongside reduced dependence on central bank financing, which aligns with IMF-backed fiscal discipline and inflation control efforts.
