Pakistan’s Foreign Loan Inflows Rise Nearly 20% in 9MFY26

Pakistan’s foreign loan inflows increased by nearly 20 percent during the first nine months of fiscal year 2025-26, mainly due to International Monetary Fund backing and stronger inflows from overseas Pakistanis.

According to official data, total foreign loan inflows excluding IMF disbursements reached $6.594 billion during July to March, compared to $5.507 billion in the same period last year. This reflected an increase of 19.7 percent. In March alone, inflows stood at $731.3 million, up 32 percent from the corresponding month last year.

The figures do not include the IMF’s $1.2 billion disbursement received in December or the additional $3 billion in safe deposits provided by Saudi Arabia during March and April. Including those amounts, Pakistan’s total external inflows during the first nine months of the fiscal year exceeded $9.7 billion.

Foreign loan inflows rose to $6.494 billion in 9MFY26 from $5.37 billion a year earlier, posting an increase of nearly 29 percent. In contrast, grants declined by 27 percent to $100.3 million during the period. The government has set a total foreign inflow target of $19.9 billion for the full fiscal year, slightly higher than last year’s target of $19.4 billion.

The Economic Affairs Division said Pakistan received $2.486 billion for project financing, while non-project inflows stood at $4.108 billion. Around $2.449 billion was secured as budgetary support during the nine months, well below the annual target of $13.5 billion.

Pakistan also mobilized $900 million under the Saudi oil facility at a monthly rate of $100 million against a full-year target of $1 billion. Meanwhile, inflows from bilateral lenders rose sharply to $1.169 billion, more than three times higher than the $358 million received in the same period last year.

Among multilateral lenders, the World Bank remained the largest source of financing with disbursements of $1.205 billion, up 23 percent from last year.

Disbursements from the Asian Development Bank fell 64 percent to $727 million, while the Islamic Development Bank provided $542 million during the period.

Overseas Pakistanis emerged as the single largest source of foreign loans through Naya Pakistan Certificates. Inflows under the scheme climbed 40 percent to $2.037 billion during the first three quarters of the fiscal year, including $1.444 billion in Islamic certificates and $594 million in conventional certificates.