In the next financial year 2023-24, Pakistan plans to allocate approximately Rs. 7.302 trillion for debt servicing, which includes interest payments and retiring principal amounts.
This amount accounts for 50.5 percent of the total budget outlay of Rs. 14.460 trillion. The budget for debt servicing in the current fiscal year was initially set at Rs. 3.950 trillion but later revised to Rs. 5.520 trillion.
For foreign debt servicing, the allocated amount for 2023-24 is Rs. 872.219 billion, compared to Rs. 510.972 billion in the current fiscal year (revised to Rs. 725.370 billion). On the other hand, domestic debt servicing is projected to be Rs. 6.430 trillion in 2023-24, compared to Rs. 3.439 trillion in 2022-23 (revised to Rs. 4.795 trillion).
As of March 2023, Pakistan’s total public debt reached Rs. 59,247 billion, showing a rise of Rs. 10,005 billion during the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
