By Karim Madad ISLAMABAD, May 18 (INP-WealthPK): Pakistan’s total external public debt stood at $90.6 billion till December 31, 2021, according to the quarterly report on Foreign Economic Assistance (FEA) of July-December 2021 released by the ministry of economic affairs division. According to the report, the government paid an amount of $5 billion during the period on account of debt servicing of the external public loans. This consisted of principal payments of $4.2 billion and interest payment of $839 million. The report said that during the first half of financial year 2021-22, the government signed new agreements worth $8.4 billion as commitments. This included $2.4 billion with foreign commercial banks, $1.9 billion with multilateral development partners, $3 billion as safe deposits, $1 billion committed as Eurobonds, and $1 billion from international capital markets through tap issuance, a procedure that allows borrowers to sell bonds or other short-term debt instruments from past issues. The report further said that among the multilateral development partners, Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) emerged as the largest partners in terms of new FEA commitments. IsDB committed $834 million, ($762 million as short-term and $72 million as long-term), and ADB $800 million (40% of multilateral partners while World Bank with 16% of multilateral partners), the report added. Out of the total commitments agreed upon during the July-December of 2021-22, $7.5 billion (or 89% of the total commitments) was earmarked as programme financing through foreign commercial banks and Eurobonds to broaden and deepen the financial system, improve fiscal management and regulatory framework to foster growth and competitiveness in Pakistan. An amount of $894 million (or 11% of the total commitments) was allocated for project financing, the report said. It further said that during the period under review, the government committed $894 million as project financing for procurement of Covid-19 vaccines, energy/power and education and training sectors. According to the report, $2.9 billion (32% disbursements) came from multilateral development partners. ADB and the World Bank were the largest development partners with disbursements of $1.06 billion and $965 million (12% and 11%), respectively, followed by IsDB. Similarly, China was the largest among bilateral partners with disbursements of $75 million, or 60%, of the total bilateral development partners’ share of $124 million, the report added. Regarding the FEA composition, the report said, $2.9 billion, or 32% of total disbursements, was from the multilateral development partners, mainly ADB, the World Bank, and IsDB. Similarly, $2.03 billion, or 22% of total disbursements, was from foreign commercial banks; $1 billion, or 11% of total disbursements, was from international bond holders; $150 million, or 2% of disbursements, was from bilateral development partners, particularly China, the US and the UK, and $3 billion, or 33% of total disbursements, was under SAFE Deposits. During the first half of the FY2021-22, the largest share of disbursements – 40% – was received to meet Covid-19 financing needs. On the other hand, the largest sector in terms of receiving disbursements, was energy and power, with a 19% share in the total project assistance of $291 million, followed by transport and communication (8%), governance, research and statistics (5%), and physical planning and housing (5%).