Pakistan’s external debt servicing reached $5.63 billion during the first quarter of fiscal year 2027, covering the period from July to September, as the country made payments of $4.53 billion towards principal repayments and another $1.10 billion in interest. According to the latest external debt servicing data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the reported amount is provisional and represents approximately 26% of the $21.59 billion serviced throughout the previous fiscal year, FY26. The figures reflect the external repayment obligations met by different sectors of the economy during the opening three months of the current fiscal year, with government debt, scheduled banks and private-sector liabilities accounting for significant portions of the total.
Of the $4.53 billion paid in principal, long-term debt repayments accounted for $4.25 billion, while short-term principal payments stood at $277 million. The entire short-term principal amount was related to government debt. Public debt represented the largest component of external debt servicing during the quarter, reaching $3.67 billion. This included $3.31 billion in government debt payments, $353 million in payments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and $7 million against foreign exchange liabilities. Scheduled banks recorded the second-largest share, servicing $1.42 billion in external borrowing, while the private sector made payments of $359 million and public sector enterprises (PSEs) serviced $181 million.
Government principal repayments amounted to $2.35 billion during the July-September period, with deposits and National Savings Certificates (NPC) associated with the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Bank of China (BOC) accounting for $750 million. Commercial loans and credits represented another $596 million of the government’s principal payments. Multilateral lenders received $512 million, while repayments to other bilateral lenders reached $455 million. Payments to Paris Club creditors stood at $38 million. No principal repayments were recorded against Eurobonds and Sukuk during the quarter, indicating that the government’s principal obligations in the period were concentrated in other external financing categories.
IMF principal repayments totalled $215 million in the first quarter of FY27. Of this amount, the federal government paid $206 million, while the central bank accounted for $8 million. Scheduled banks recorded $1.37 billion in principal repayments against their external borrowing, compared with no such principal payments reported for FY26. Meanwhile, public sector enterprises serviced $97 million in guaranteed debt, while the private sector made $211 million in payments against non-guaranteed external debt. No principal repayment was recorded against foreign exchange liabilities during the quarter.
Interest payments on external debt reached $1.10 billion, with public debt accounting for the largest share at $825 million. Government debt interest payments stood at $680 million, including $658 million related to long-term obligations. Within this long-term government debt interest, other bilateral lenders received $301 million, followed by multilateral lenders at $205 million. Commercial loans and credits accounted for $58 million, while Eurobonds and Sukuk interest payments reached $52 million. Interest on NBP and BOC deposits and NPC stood at $33 million, while payments to Paris Club creditors amounted to $9 million. Short-term government debt interest was recorded at $22 million, entirely related to multilateral debt.
The government also made $139 million in interest payments to the IMF during the quarter. The central bank accounted for $89 million of this amount, including interest associated with the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation, while the federal government paid $49 million. Interest payments against foreign exchange liabilities reached $7 million, all related to central bank deposits. Outside public debt, the private sector paid $148 million in interest on non-guaranteed external debt, scheduled banks recorded $47 million in interest servicing, and public sector enterprises paid $84 million against guaranteed debt. These payments added to the overall external debt servicing requirement during the quarter.
The revised figures for FY26 show that Pakistan serviced a total of $21.59 billion in external debt, comprising $16.59 billion in principal repayments and $5.01 billion in interest payments. Public debt accounted for $18.89 billion of the annual total, including $13.95 billion in government debt servicing, $1.05 billion in IMF payments and $3.89 billion against foreign exchange liabilities. Public sector enterprises serviced $553 million, scheduled bank borrowings accounted for $68 million, and the private sector paid $2.08 billion. Long-term principal repayments reached $15.97 billion during FY26, including $1.80 billion in Eurobonds and Sukuk payments, while short-term principal repayments, excluding bank borrowing, stood at $621 million.
The first-quarter figures indicate that Pakistan has already met a substantial portion of its annual external debt servicing recorded in FY26. With $5.63 billion paid between July and September, principal repayments continue to represent the larger share of the country’s external payment obligations, while interest payments add to the cost of servicing outstanding liabilities. The breakdown provided by the State Bank also highlights the contribution of government borrowing, IMF obligations, scheduled bank financing and private-sector debt to the country’s overall external repayment requirements.
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