First Quarter Sees 60% Decrease in Foreign Aid to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: In the first quarter of the current fiscal year (July-September), Pakistan’s foreign assistance inflows dropped 60% to $2.3 billion, from approximately $5.73 billion in the same period last year, due to delays in obtaining an International Monetary Fund (IMF) support package.

On Tuesday, the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) announced the results of its monthly report on Foreign Economic Assistance (FEA). The goal for the year is $19.4 billion, and the country received $1.3 billion in the first quarter, according to the report.

This represents a considerable drop from last year’s $3.527bn received over the same period when the annual goal was $17.6bn.

The State Bank of Pakistan keeps different records of the about $1bn that the IMF sent out on the last day of September, which is not included in the report.

Significant Decline in Pakistan’s IMF Inflows Compared to Last Year

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued $1.2 billion in early July of the previous fiscal year, increasing Pakistan’s inflows for the month to $2.9 billion. On the other hand, only $436 million came in during July of this year. The European Investment Bank (EAD) said that September inflows were $594 million, up from $321 million in the same month the previous year.

Approximately $663 million was received for budgetary support or program loans out of the $1.3 million that was received in the first quarter. The remaining $645 million was used for project finance. The EAD received almost $2.5 billion in program loans and approximately $875 million in project aid during the same time last year.

Multilateral inflows were $493 million, which is nearly unchanged from last year, while bilateral disbursements were $250 million, down from $325 million, in the first quarter of this year.

Loans totaling around $200 million were received by the EAD in the first quarter of this year from international commercial lenders. This indicates a slight rebound from commercial banks that refrained from financing Pakistan in the previous year.

In addition, the Naya Pakistan Certificates brought in $375 million for Pakistan, up from $204 million the previous year.

World Bank Leads Disbursements with $277M in Q1 Support

Amid the multilateral, the World Bank topped the charts with a $277 million disbursement in Q1 of this year, down from $300 million in Q1 of 2018.

After that came $114 million from the ADB and $62 million from the Islamic Development Bank. Out of all the bilateral lenders, China’s $97 million was the most substantial, followed by France’s $90 million and the US’s $36 million.