Pakistan’s foreign loan inflows increased by nearly 20 percent during the first nine months of fiscal year 2025-26, supported by IMF-linked confidence, stronger overseas inflows, and higher support from bilateral and multilateral lenders.
According to official data, total foreign loan inflows excluding IMF disbursements stood at $6.594 billion during July-March, compared with $5.507 billion in the same period last year, reflecting an increase of 19.7 percent. In March alone, inflows reached $731.3 million, up 32 percent from the corresponding month of 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 current fiscal year exceeded $9.7 billion.
A breakdown of the data showed that foreign loan inflows rose to $6.494 billion in 9MFY26 from $5.37 billion a year earlier, marking an increase of nearly 29 percent. In contrast, grants fell 27 percent to $100.3 million during the period.
The government has set a full-year foreign inflow target of $19.9 billion for FY26, slightly higher than last year’s target of $19.4 billion.
The Economic Affairs Division said Pakistan received $2.486 billion in project financing during the nine-month period, while non-project inflows totaled $4.108 billion. Of this, about $2.449 billion came in as budgetary support, significantly below the annual target of $13.5 billion.
Pakistan also mobilized $900 million under the Saudi oil facility at a rate of $100 million per month against a full-year target of $1 billion.
Inflows from bilateral lenders rose sharply to $1.169 billion during the period, 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 a year earlier.
Disbursements from the Asian Development Bank, however, fell 64 percent to $727 million, while the Islamic Development Bank provided $542 million during the period.
Overseas Pakistanis also emerged as the single largest source of foreign loan inflows through Naya Pakistan Certificates. Inflows under the scheme rose 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.
The data shows that while Pakistan continues to rely heavily on external financing to meet its fiscal and balance-of-payments needs, stronger inflows from diaspora-backed instruments and bilateral partners have helped support the country’s external position during the current fiscal year.
