Morning News: Debt-to-GDP ratio falls to 26pc: SBP governor – By HMFS Research
Dec 4 2025
HMFS Research
- Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Jameel Ahmad on Wednesday said Pakistan’s external debt burden has begun to ease, with the debt-to-GDP ratio falling from 31 percent to 26 percent. Speaking to the media at the Pakistan Women Entrepreneurship Day 2025 ceremony at SBP head office, he said this is the first meaningful improvement in several years. He added that Pakistan has not added to its external debt stock since 2022, breaking a long trend of steady annual increases. The Governor SBP noted that previously between 2015 and 2022 the external debt had been rising by an average of USD 6.4 billion every year. “The direction has changed. We’re now seeing stability instead of continuous accumulation,” he said. He added that the current account deficit will remain contained between zero and one percent of GDP this fiscal year, despite higher imports. He said the improvement reflects better discipline, stronger inflows and more balanced trade flows.
- Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Wednesday said the federal government will finalise an action plan by December 31 for the implementation of 15 priority recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to improve governance to end corruption in various departments. The Finance Minister informed the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance that the short-term and long-term recommendations would be implemented in a two to three-year period to control corruption in government departments. Terming the report an indictment of both the government and parliament, the Finance Minister read out all 15 major recommendations of the IMF from the report, commenting that most of them are implemented, or a lot of these recommendations are work in progress. Fifteen major recommendations of the IMF are related to different areas, including governance, taxation, corruption, regulatory and the rule of law.
