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Default on Foreign Debt Looms Large in Pakistan Amid Political Instability

© AP Photo / Fareed KhanAn investor monitors Index on the big screen at at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE), in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, June 24, 2022.
An investor monitors Index on the big screen at at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE), in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, June 24, 2022. - Sputnik International, 1920, 17.11.2022
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Pakistan's economy has faced unprecedented challenges because of devastating floods, with the total damage estimated to cost around $30Bln. The Shehbaz Sharif-led government has been actively seeking assistance from foreign governments to help it overcome the crisis.
Pakistan’s sovereign credit default swaps (CDS) witnessed a surge to 79.33 percent on Wednesday from 56.2 percent on Tuesday, indicating a rising threat of defaulting on foreign debt.

The current CDS is the highest one recorded since data became available in November 2006.

A deterioration in CDS warns investors of default risks in a country’s stocks, bonds, and currency, making it difficult for the government to raise money from the market. The five-year CDS offers protection to any investor against the default risk of a country’s sovereign bonds.
The delay in the International Monetary Fund's ninth review and lack of support from friendly states have only aggravated the situation in Pakistan: the country needs around $32Bln to 34Bln by the end of March 2023 to meet its foreign obligations. Experts see the default risk as real because of the present level of foreign exchange reserves, which dwindled below $8Bln.
The Sharif government has requested further inflows from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), because of losses caused by the colossal floods.
A villager uses cots to save usable items after salvaging from his flood-hit home, in Jaffarabad, a district of Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. - Sputnik International, 1920, 15.11.2022
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However, the Washington-based multilateral institution sees massive slippages in the revenue deficit target of 0.2 percent of GDP, asking Islamabad to make the required adjustment in their expenditure for further relief.
The IMF earlier approved a long-awaited $1.17Bln bailout package for the cash-strapped nation.
Local media - citing unnamed government officials - have reported the political situation is also one of the factors for the delay in fielding a staff-level mission by the IMF.
The international lender has been pressing for an increase in the tax-to-GDP ratio, a proposal that failed to receive a nod from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) ahead of the general elections.
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