Pakistan debt hits Rs98.88 trillion: up 6.5% in a year, down since June

Pakistan’s total debt and liabilities stood at Rs98.881 trillion at the end of September 2026, according to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data released on Friday, 13 November. That is 6.46% more than a year earlier, but slightly less than at the end of June.

The bigger number in the release is what it cost to carry that debt: Rs2.9 trillion in repayments and interest in just three months.

How much did Pakistan’s debt grow in a year?

A year ago, at the end of September 2025, the SBP’s total for debt and liabilities was Rs92.879 trillion, so the pile grew by about Rs6 trillion, The Express Tribune and Mettis Global reported from the SBP figures. Debt on its own (without liabilities) rose 7.69% to Rs97.038 trillion.

By type:

• Government domestic debt: Rs57.758 trillion, up from Rs53.427 trillion a year earlier.
• External debt (in rupees): Rs37.197 trillion, up 7.29% from Rs34.671 trillion. Of this, Rs3.01 trillion is owed to the IMF, up from Rs2.542 trillion.
• State companies’ domestic debt: Rs2.084 trillion.
• Liabilities: down to Rs3.413 trillion from Rs4.436 trillion, mostly because external liabilities fell.

Did debt really fall since June?

Yes, a little. At the end of June 2026, SBP data put total debt and liabilities at Rs99.59 trillion, Mettis Global reported in August. Three months later the figure is about Rs710 billion lower. Using the same SBP series, government domestic debt fell from Rs59.44 trillion to Rs57.758 trillion over the quarter, while external debt rose by roughly Rs1 trillion in rupee terms.

Mohammed Awais Ashraf, director of research at AKD Securities, told The Express Tribune that the quarterly fall came from the government’s fiscal surplus in the first quarter, and that the debt-to-GDP ratio is improving because of careful spending and faster growth in tax revenue. He added that over the full year, the government borrowed to fund its deficit.

Why did debt servicing jump 33%?

Between July and September, Pakistan spent Rs2.9 trillion servicing its debt and liabilities, up 33.27% from Rs2.176 trillion in the same months last year, the SBP data show. Two things drove it:

• Foreign repayments almost doubled: principal repaid on external debt and liabilities was Rs1.18 trillion, against Rs634 billion a year earlier.
• Interest kept rising: Rs1.693 trillion, up 14.7%. Almost all of it, Rs1.388 trillion, went on domestic debt.

What it means for you

Every rupee spent on interest is a rupee not spent on schools, hospitals or development, and in three months interest alone cost Rs1.69 trillion. It also explains why foreign loan rollovers and the IMF programme matter so much: they help Pakistan meet repayments that almost doubled in a single quarter.

The fall since June is real but small, and one quarter is not a trend. The next test is the SBP’s figures for the end of December, due early next year.

This is information, not investment advice.