- The PPP regime borrowed $7.72 billion from the IMF during its 2008-2013 mandate.
- The PML-N government led by Nawas Sharif signed loan agreements worth US$6.48 billion with the IMF.
- PTI administration signed $6 billion worth of deals with lender of last resort.
The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) regime (2008-2013) remains the largest borrower from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) till date, while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government (2018-2022) paid the highest interest on its loans to the same lender, an official document showed.
According to the document submitted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the PPP government obtained loans worth 5.23 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), equivalent to more than 7.72 billion dollars.
The document also reveals that more than $3 billion in loans were repaid to the IMF between 2008 and 2013. In addition, 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 terms of increasing the country's indebtedness, as the Nawas Sharif-led government borrowed 4.39 billion SDRs between 2013 and 2018. This amount translates to over 6.48 billion dollars in five years.
The PML-N-led regime repaid loans worth over $4 billion in SDRs, or $5.92 billion in monetary terms, and paid over $317 million in interest during their tenure.
The PTI government obtained a loan totalling over 4.5 billion SDR or $6 billion from the IMF, the document said. The PTI government returned over $4.02 billion or SDR 2.72 billion to the IMF in addition to $791 million in interest during this period.
Interestingly, the PTI regime emerges as the borrower that paid the highest interest on IMF loans, surpassing the interest payments made by both the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in their respective tenures.
Last month, the ruling PML-N-led coalition and the IMF reached an agreement for a 37-month, $7 billion loan programme with tough measures such as raising taxes on agricultural income.
The staff-level agreement caps negotiations that began in May after Islamabad completed a $3 billion short-term program that helped stabilize the economy, avoid a sovereign debt default and set challenging revenue targets in its budget to win IMF approval.
Pakistan has been struggling with boom-and-bust cycles for decades, leading to 22 IMF bailouts since 1958. Currently, the IMF is the fifth-largest debtor, owing $6.28 billion as of July 11, according to data from the lender.
The latest economic crisis has been the longest and has seen the highest inflation levels in history, pushing the country to the brink of sovereign default last summer ahead of an IMF bailout.
The conditions of the program have become tougher. The latest bailout is aimed at consolidating stability and inclusive growth in the crisis-stricken South Asian country, the IMF said.
