The Finance Division has clarified that the Rs. 10.1 trillion debt reported for federal state-owned enterprises (SOEs) is the total stock of interest-bearing liabilities and does not represent new borrowing.

The clarification followed comparisons between the Rs. 10.1 trillion figure and narrower State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data on SOE borrowing from the banking system.

According to the Finance Division, fresh and additional borrowing during the period was around Rs. 164 billion, while the overall SOE debt stock increased from approximately Rs. 8.8 trillion to Rs. 10.1 trillion.

The ministry said the two figures cannot be directly compared because they cover different categories of liabilities.

The SBP’s Rs. 2.954 trillion figure covers public sector enterprise borrowing and credit obtained from the banking system. In contrast, the Central Monitoring Unit (CMU) uses a broader measure covering federal SOEs’ interest-bearing liabilities for fiscal risk monitoring.

The Rs. 10.1 trillion CMU figure includes Rs. 2.098 trillion in Cash Development Loans, Rs. 2.581 trillion in foreign re-lent loans, Rs. 3.102 trillion in bank and private-sector loans, Rs. 2.181 trillion in accrued markup and rollover costs, and Rs. 135 billion in other interest-bearing liabilities, including leases and right-of-use obligations.

Bank and private-sector loans account for about Rs. 3.1 trillion of the total, with the remaining amount mainly consisting of government lending, foreign re-lent loans, accumulated markup, rollover costs and other liabilities.

The Finance Division said movements in the total debt stock can result from changes in existing government lending, foreign re-lent loans and accumulated financial obligations, and not only from fresh borrowing.

It added that the broader CMU measure gives the government and the Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises a more complete picture of SOE debt and associated fiscal risks.