An official document has revealed that the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) government (2008-13), holds the record for the largest borrowings from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) administration (2018-22), paid the highest interest on the global lender’s loans.
As per the document presented by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee, the PPP government secured loans amounting to 5.23 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), equivalent to over $7.72 billion.
The document further reveals that over $3 billion in loans were repaid to the IMF between 2008 and 2013. Additionally, the PPP paid more than $484 million in interest to the IMF.
On the other hand, the PML-N is not far behind the PPP in adding to the country’s indebtedness as the Nawas Sharif-led government borrowed 4.39 billion in SDRs from 2013 to 2018.
This amount translates to over $6.48 billion over the five years.
The PML-N-led regime repaid loans of more than 4 billion in SDRs, or $5.92 billion in currency terms, and paid over $317 million in interest during their tenure.
The PTI government secured a loan totalling over 4.5 billion in SDRs or $6 billion from the IMF, the document shows. The PTI government repaid over $4.02 billion or 2.72 billion in SDRs on top of $791 million in interest to the IMF during this period.
