Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s total debt has risen by Rs 43.59 billion over the past year, bringing the province’s debt to a projected Rs 723.13 billion by July 1, 2025, according to official data. At the beginning of the current fiscal year, the debt stood at Rs 679.54 billion.
As of July 1, 2024, the province had no domestic debt, and it remains free from internal borrowing. The entire debt load consists of external loans. The external debt, which was Rs 679.54 billion at the start of the fiscal year, is now projected to rise to Rs 723.13 billion by the beginning of the next fiscal year.
Despite the growing debt, the provincial government has repaid Rs 30.70 billion in loans this fiscal year, although it had initially planned to pay Rs 67 billion—Rs 40 billion in principal and Rs 27 billion in interest.
Revised estimates indicate that the actual repayment was Rs 55 billion, with Rs 35 billion allocated to principal repayment and Rs 20 billion toward interest.
For the upcoming fiscal year, the government plans to repay Rs 65 billion, including Rs 40 billion in principal and Rs 25 billion in interest.
The majority of the province’s debt is owed to international financial institutions, with Rs 323.63 billion owed to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Rs 307 billion to the International Development Association (IDA). The remaining debt is owed to other international lenders.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s debt has more than doubled in the past four years. In 2021, the debt stood at Rs 295.96 billion, rising to Rs 359.33 billion in 2022, then to Rs 530.72 billion in 2023, and now reaching Rs 723.13 billion.
