Pakistan, June 21 -- Pakistan secured $20 billion in foreign loans and grants during the first 11 months of fiscal year 2024-25. This amount surpassed the government's annual target of $19.2 billion. The Economic Affairs Division (EAD) released this data in a recent report. These inflows helped support the country's external financing needs amid ongoing economic challenges.

About half of the funds came from old loan rollovers by China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The fresh loans and grants totaled $6.89 billion-down by 9% compared to the same period last year. The drop was mainly due to delays in the IMF programme, which made commercial lenders more cautious. Pakistan did not count IMF disbursements in this figure, as the State Bank recor...