Pakistan's total public debt has reached Rs 12 trillion, including Rs 7.6 trillion domestic debt and Rs 5.025 trillion foreign debt. A Special Committee on Foreign and Domestic Loans, presided over by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Welfare Begum Shehnaz Wazir Ali, was told by officials of the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) and Finance Ministry that the total public debt portfolio touched a record level of Rs 12 trillion in 2012-13.
Members of the committee included Rashid Godil, Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Tanveer Hussain, and Hamid Yar Hiraj. Committee members were informed by EAD officials that the total outstanding amount of foreign loans as of July 31 this year stood at $46.4 billion while total grants received so far stood at $13 billion.
During the Junejo regime from 1985-88, total foreign assistance received by the country was $6.37 billion, including $4.6 billion in loans and $1.7 billion grants. From 1988-90, during the first tenure of Benazir Bhutto, $4 billion were recieved as foreign loans and $1.11 billion as grants. During the first tenure of PML-N (1990-93), $7.5 billion was received as foreign assistance, including $6.1 billion loans and $1.4 billion grants. During the second PPP tenure (1993-96), a total of $8.1 billion foreign assistance, including $, 7.3 billion loans and $804 million grants, were received.
The committee was informed that during the Musharraf regime (1999-2008), Pakistan received $17.9 billion as loans and $5.06 billion grants while the incumbent government received foreign assistance worth $14 billion, including $11.6 billion as loans and $2.3 billion as grants. Rashid Godil told the committee: "There should be a proper mechanism to judge how the money received as loans is being utilised and in which sector. The committee should also be informed about the complete schedule foreign loans repayments."
Ahsan Iqbal said: "In 2008, total public debt was Rs 5.5 trillion that has increased to Rs 12 trillion in 2012-13 this shows too much borrowing by the government without proper utilisation. "It is a matter of grave concern that the country is relying heavily on loans from the multilateral donors like the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and these donors already having sovereign guarantees, are getting more in the shape of repayments with high interest rates than the amount they provide as loans."
"There is no proper utilisation of project loans. For example 'Access to Justice' was a project financed by ADB, but the outcome of the project was zero," Ahsan Iqbal added. "The lending agencies make fun of our project implementation mechanism," Ahsan Iqbal said.
Shanaz Wazir Ali said: "Proper utilisation of loans within a specific time frame is the way to achieve maximum benefit." She decided to call Dr Nadeemul haq, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, in the next meeting of the committee that is expected to be held in the first week of October to get a clear idea about foreign-funded projects and how loans were being utilised along with projects implementation status.
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