ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Sunday it was awarding central contracts to five emerging cricketers while demoting big names Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf, based on a string of lackluster performances.
The PCB awards annual contracts to cricketers divided into categories A, B, C and D. These contracts provide cricketers with a fixed monthly salary, match fees and other benefits.
The board announced in its latest statement that it had awarded central contracts to 25 players. Star batter Babar Azam has been retained in the A category with Muhammad Rizwan while Afridi, once the leader of Pakistan’s lethal pace attack, has been demoted to category B from A.
“As part of the PCB’s strategy to incentivize, encourage and reward talented and emerging cricketers, five players have been offered central contracts for the first time,” the board said.
“They are Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Irfan Khan and Usman Khan.”
Azam has been retained in the top category despite a string of poor performances. The cricketer was dropped from Pakistan’s second and third test matches against England after he failed to score a fifty in over eight test matches on the trot.
An out-of-form Afridi has been unable to perform for Pakistan. The left-arm fast bowler was also dropped after Pakistan’s humiliating loss to England in the first test match in Multan. The development also takes place amid local media reports of Afridi being involved in disputes with Azam and former Pakistani selector Mohammad Yousuf.
Fiery Pakistani pacer Rauf has also been demoted to category C from B while white-ball regular Fakhar Zaman has not been awarded any contract.
Zaman made headlines earlier this month when he publicly expressed concern at the PCB’s decision to drop Azam after the first England Test. In a post on social media platform X, Zaman said the PCB’s move could send a “deeply negative message” across the team.
Pakistan’s test captain Shan Masood, meanwhile, has been granted a category B contract subject to him retaining his captaincy. Pakistani cricketers Sajid Khan, Noman Ali and Salman Ali Agha, who put in impressive performances against England, have been awarded category C contracts.
Pakistan Cricket Board demotes pacer Afridi, awards contracts to five emerging players
https://arab.news/muf5f
Pakistan Cricket Board demotes pacer Afridi, awards contracts to five emerging players
- Shaheen Afridi demoted to category B after lackluster performances, reports of disputes with colleagues
- Fakhar Zaman loses out on central contract while pacer Haris Rauf has been demoted to category C
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.
