The severe financial crisis has forced Pakistan to put Prime Minister Imran Khan's official residence in Islamabad on the market for rent, according to a report by Samaa TV.
In August 2019, the Imran Khan-led government had announced the plan to convert the prime minister's residence into a university and PM Khan had even vacated the house for this purpose. However, the Pakistan government has now dropped that plan and decided to rent out the property for generating more funds for the state exchequer.
Pakistan's GDP has contracted by USD 19 billion in the three years since Khan took office. Pakistan's external debt and obligations have increased at different rates during the previous 15 years or more, but no attempt undertaken during this time period has succeeded in limiting the exponential increase in the load, according to Dawn.
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This is corroborated by a more than 150% increase in foreign debt and liabilities to USD 116.3 billion at the end of the Fiscal Year 2008, up from USD 45.4 billion at the end of the Fiscal Year 2007. Furthermore, Pakistan acquired approximately 63% more debt, or USD 12.13 billion, in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year, compared to USD 7.4 billion borrowed by the government during the same period in 2020.
When it comes to the different sources that have granted loans to the country, the World Bank Group is the biggest creditor with a 46% stake, followed by the Asian Development Bank with a 25% share. China ranks third with 24% of the total external debt stock, while Japan contributes 3%.
Despite growing debt and inflation in Pakistan, the Imran Khan-led federal government has proposed exempting all registered political parties from the legal duty of providing yearly income and asset records, as well as reporting their revenue tax-free, in Finance Bill 2021.
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Previously, former finance minister Miftah Ismail stated that the Imran Khan-led administration was "toying with the economy," adding that it had boosted government and state-run institutions' loans by Rs 45,000 billion.
