Survivor of May crash of PIA airliner flies again

Zafar Masud, right, who is one of the two survivors of a deadly PIA crash in May, is greeted by the airline's staff on board its flight to Lahore on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. (Photo courtesy: PIA)
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Updated 26 September 2020
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Survivor of May crash of PIA airliner flies again

  • Only two passengers survived the crash that killed 97 people on board in late May
  • The survivor, Zafar Masud, said he hoped to see PIA regain its former glory

ISLAMABAD: A survivor of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane crash that killed 97 people on board earlier this year, flew with the national flag carrier again on Saturday.
Only two passengers on board the PIA 8303 flight had survived. On May 22, the plane from Lahore to Pakistan’s financial hub of Karachi plunged into a residential area after both engines failed as it approached Karachi airport. It was Pakistan's deadliest aviation accident in eight years.
One of the survivors, Zafar Masud, chief executive of Bank of Punjab, was greeted by PIA staff on Saturday afternoon as he boarded the PK304 flight from Karachi to Lahore. The airline took to Twitter to thank him for "trusting and supporting" it. 

On Friday evening, Masud announced that he was "looking forward to flying again" for the first time after the airplane crash. 

He said he hoped to see PIA "regaining its former glory."
The deadly crash in May shook Pakistan when it resumed domestic flights after shutting them down in March amid the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the passengers on the PK8303 flight were flying home to meet their families over the Eid Al-Fitr holiday after over two months in lockdown.


Pakistan says repaid over $13.06 billion domestic debt early in last 14 months

Updated 29 January 2026
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Pakistan says repaid over $13.06 billion domestic debt early in last 14 months

  • Finance adviser says repayment shows “decisive shift” toward fiscal discipline, responsible economic management
  • Says Pakistan’s total public debt has declined from over $286.6 billion in June 2025 to $284.7 billion in November 2025

KARACHI: Pakistan has repaid Rs3,650 billion [$13.06 billion] in domestic debt before time during the last 14 months, Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad said on Thursday, adding that the achievement reflected a shift in the country’s approach toward fiscal discipline. 

Schehzad said Pakistan has been repaying its debt before maturity, owed to the market as well as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), since December 2024. He said the government had repaid the central bank Rs300 billion [$1.08 billion] in its latest repayment on Thursday. 

“This landmark achievement reflects a decisive shift toward fiscal discipline, credibility, and responsible economic management,” Schehzad wrote on social media platform X. 

Giving a breakdown of what he said was Pakistan’s “early debt retirement journey,” the finance official said Pakistan retired Rs1,000 billion [$3.576 billion] in December 2024, Rs500 billion [$1.78 billion] in June 2025, Rs1,160 billion [$4.150 billion] in August 2025, Rs200 billion [$715 million] in October 2025, Rs494 billion [$1.76 billion] in December 2025 and $1.08 billion in January 2026. 

He said with the latest debt repaid today, the July to January period of fiscal year 2026 alone recorded Rs2,150 billion [$7.69 billion] in early retirement, which was 44 percent higher than the debt retired in FY25.

He said of the total early repayments, the government has repaid 65 percent of the central bank’s debt, 30 percent of the treasury bills debt and five percent of the Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) debt. 

The official said Pakistan’s total public debt has declined from over Rs 80.5 trillion [$286.6 billion] in June 2025 to Rs80 trillion [$284.7 billion] in November 2025. 

“Crucially, Pakistan’s debt-to-GDP ratio, around 74 percent in FY22, has declined to around 70 percent, reflecting a broader strengthening of fiscal fundamentals alongside disciplined debt management,” Schehzad wrote. 

Pakistan’s government has said the country’s fragile economy is on an upward trajectory. The South Asian country has been trying to navigate a tricky path to economic recovery under a $7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.