YesterdayReport
Now let’s look at Pakistan the south Asian nation known for its financial mismanagement. A new report came out today showing the country’s latest borrowing spree in 45 days the Pakistani government borrowed 3.2 trillion rupees that’s about 11.5 billion dollar at today’s exchange rate and this wasn’t some giant loan that Pakistan got from its usual AR of global lenders now Pakistan borrowed this money domestically at exorbitant interest rate.
let me break this down further between May 15th and June 28 this year Pakistan went to town they reached out to local banks and they picked up about 11.5 billion dollar that’s about a quarter of a billion a day on average the amount is absurd because it’s almost the exact amount that Pakistan borrowed in the past financial year ending 2023 but that’s was over an entire year the recent borrowing spree took place in just 45 days more than 11 billion dollar in 45 days it shows just how to dire their financial situation is and the dates are important to note Pakistan borrowed this money after mid may after they had already declared their expenses for the last Financial year.
This means that the fresh loans that the government took will not registered for a while no until the middle of 2025 basically this was an accounting trick done to mislead the public and of course Pakistan’s endless list of creditors it seems Islamabad does not want the world to know just how indebted it really is and it gets worse Pakistan hasn’t just been borrowing from banks it has also tapped the bond market some of you might know what a treasury bill is for those who don’t’ it’s a type of Government bond an investor lends the government money for a short period of time.
It is usually 3 or 6 or 12 months and after that point you get the money back with interest almost every country every government issues bonds and treasury bills when it needs money it’s a common practice but Pakistan is on a completely different level let’s compare Pakistani treasury bill return with those in India look at the number.
Pakistan’s average yield is about 20% compared to about 5% in India so Islamabad borrows money at four time the price that New Delhi does for all investors out there it’s best to not get any ideas there’s a reason. Pakistan offers such a premium on its bonds it’s partly because the government is desperate for money and most people don’t want to lend them any but that’s just one reason the other is because their currency is very volatile the Pakistani rupee almost half of what it was 3 years ago half the value in June 2021 the exchange rate was about 160 Pakistani Rupees to a dollar today it’s about 280 to a dollar.
So, who knows when the currency will go belly up again that is why Pakistan borrows at such ridiculously high rates and this has far reaching consequences a few days ago Pakistan released it budget for the next financial year and it was a brutal budget they plan to increase tax revenue collection over 40% it’s unprecedented and the tax hikes will be borne by ordinary citizen these were the reports from Pakistan. Today they are seeking a new loan from the IMF the international monetary fund the IMF wants the country to raise taxes further this time on agricultural income tax rate could go up 45% and it seems that Islamabad this it is willing to tax its citizens to such an extent for an IMF loan a 6 billion dollar IMF loan that’s about half of what Pakistan borrowed in May and June in those hectic 45 days this is perfect example of Economic mismanagement and the citizen will be paying the price for years to.
