PESHAWAR: A senior police officer was killed and a religious party leader was injured in separate attacks in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), officials said on Friday, amid a surge in violence in the restive region.
The northwestern Pakistani province, which borders Afghanistan, has been the scene of a number of attacks on police, security forces and anti-polio vaccination teams in recent weeks.
In the latest attack on Friday morning, the in-charge of a police station was killed in Toi Khula, a rugged locality on the periphery of Wana, headquarters of the South Waziristan district, according to district police spokesman Habib Islam.
“Rahman Dotani, station house officer (SHO) at police station Toi Khula, was killed in gunfire,” Islam said. “Police are investigating the case from different angles as the slain official had personal enmity as well.”
A day before, he said, Maulana Mirza Jan, a member of the Jamiat Ulema Islami (JUI) religious party, suffered serious injuries, when unidentified attackers ambushed his vehicle in Wana.
“Jan was returning from an event near Wana when the vehicle he was traveling in came under attack by unidentified assailants near Daja Ghundi village,” Islam said. “He is still struggling for life at a medical facility.”
Police have registered a report of the incident against unidentified assailants and are investigating the matter.
Another prayer leader, Abdul Nasir, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen near a mosque in Bara area of the Khyber tribal district, while three policemen were killed in separate attacks in the province last week.
While no group claimed responsibility for the killings, officials suspected the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has claimed dozens of recent attacks, to be behind the latest spate of killings.
The deaths brought the total number of police killings in ambushes and targeted attacks in the volatile province to 60 this year, according to police.
Pakistan has witnessed a spike in militant violence in its two western provinces, KP and Balochistan, since the TTP called off its fragile truce with the government in November 2022.
Islamabad has blamed the surge in violence on militants operating out of neighboring Afghanistan. Kabul denies the allegation and says rising violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue of Islamabad.
Police officer killed, religious party leader injured as militant violence sweeps through northwest Pakistan
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Police officer killed, religious party leader injured as militant violence sweeps through northwest Pakistan
- Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been the scene of a number of attacks on police, security forces and anti-polio vaccinators in recent weeks
- While no group immediately claimed responsibility for killings, officials suspect Pakistani Taliban to be behind most of the attacks in the region
Islamabad dismisses claims about paying up to 8 percent interest on foreign loans as ‘misleading’
- Pakistan has long relied on external loans to help bridge persistent gaps in public finances and foreign exchange reserves
- Pakistan’s total external debt, liabilities stand at $138 billion at an overall average cost of around 4 percent, ministry says
KARACHI: Pakistan’s finance ministry on Sunday dismissed as “misleading” claims that the country is paying up to 8 percent interest on external loans, saying the overall average cost of external public debt is approximately 4 percent.
Pakistan has long relied on external loans to help bridge persistent gaps in public finances and foreign exchange reserves, driven largely by a narrow tax base, chronic trade deficits, rising debt-servicing costs and repeated balance-of-payments pressures.
Over the decades, successive governments have turned to multilateral and bilateral lenders, including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, to support budgetary needs and shore up foreign exchange reserves.
The finance ministry on Sunday issued a clarification in response to a “recent press commentary” regarding the country’s external debt position and associated interest payments, and said the figures required contextual explanation to ensure accurate understanding of Pakistan’s external debt profile.
“Pakistan’s total external debt and liabilities currently stand at $138 billion. This figure, however, encompasses a broad range of obligations, including public and publicly guaranteed debt, debt of Public Sector Enterprises (both guaranteed and non-guaranteed), bank borrowings, private-sector external debt, and intercompany liabilities to direct investors. It is therefore important to distinguish this aggregate figure from External Public (Government) Debt, which amounts to approximately $92 billion,” it said.
“Of the total External Public Debt, nearly 75 percent comprises concessional and long-term financing obtained from multilateral institutions (excluding the IMF) and bilateral development partners. Only about 7 percent of this debt consists of commercial loans, while another 7 percent relates to long-term Eurobonds. In light of this composition, the claim that Pakistan is paying interest on external loans ‘up to 8 percent’ is misleading.
The overall average cost of External Public Debt is approximately 4 percent, reflecting the predominantly concessional nature of the borrowing portfolio.”
With respect to interest payments, public external debt interest outflows increased from $1.99 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 to $3.59 billion in FY2025, representing an increase of 80.4 percent, not 84 percent as reported. In absolute terms, interest payments rose by $1.60 billion over this period, not $1.67 billion, it said.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan’s records, Pakistan’s total debt servicing payments to specific creditors during the period under reference were as follows: the IMF received $1.50 billion, of which $580 million constituted interest; Naya Pakistan Certificates payments totaled $1.56 billion, including $94 million in interest; the Asian Development Bank received $1.54 billion, including $615 million in interest; the World Bank received $1.25 billion, including $419 million in interest; and external commercial loans amounted to nearly $3 billion, of which $327 million represented interest payments.
“While interest payments have increased in absolute terms, this rise cannot be attributed solely to an expansion in the debt stock,” the ministry said. “Although the overall debt stock has increased slightly since FY2022, the additional inflows have primarily originated from concessional multilateral sources and the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) under the ongoing IMF-supported program.”
Pakistan secured a $7 billion IMF bailout in Sept. 2024 as part of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s efforts to stabilize the South Asian economy that narrowly averted a default in 2023. The government has since been making efforts to boost trade and bring in foreign investment to consolidate recovery.
“It is also important to note that the increase in interest payments reflects prevailing global interest rate dynamics. In response to the inflation surge of 2021–22, the US Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate from 0.75-1.00 percent in May 2022 to 5.25–5.50 percent by July 2023. Although rates have since moderated to around 3.75 percent, they remain significantly higher than 2022 levels,” the finance ministry said.
“The government remains committed to prudent debt management, transparency, and the continued strengthening of Pakistan’s macroeconomic stability,” it added.
