State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jameel Ahmed revealed that Pakistan has paid approximately $16 billion in interest on foreign loans over the past four years, highlighting the steep cost of servicing overseas debt while total external obligations currently hover near $107 billion.
The governor noted that between $10 billion and $11 billion of these interest payments came from dollars bought directly in the open market, avoiding new loans to cover the costs, which demonstrates the country's drive to fulfill external payment duties independently.
Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves grew from about $3 billion at the start of 2023 to roughly $21.5 billion.
Ahmed added that yearly interest payments should drop under $3 billion next year, which may relieve some strain on the nation's foreign exchange reserves.
