Abdul Ghani

Pakistan received combined external inflows of about $1.82 billion in the form of foreign economic assistance and budgetary support during the first five months of FY26 (July-November), as recorded in the Foreign Economic Assistance Monthly Report for November 2025 issued by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

According to the report, foreign economic assistance totalled $858.28 million during the July-November FY26 period. This category primarily reflects project-based financing released by bilateral and multilateral development partners for ongoing initiatives across multiple sectors.

For November 2025, the report shows a provisional foreign economic assistance disbursement of $15.33 million, reflecting inflows released during the month against approved external assistance commitments.

In parallel, budgetary support inflows during July-November FY26 stood at $965.92 million, as per the report’s budgetary support tables. Budgetary support is recorded separately from project-based foreign economic assistance and includes programme financing and oil-related facilities extended to Pakistan.

During November 2025, the report records provisional budgetary support disbursements of $196.99 million. These inflows are reflected under different budgetary support lines included in the report.

The document provides a further breakdown of oil-related financing included within budgetary support. It shows that short-term oil financing from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) recorded a November disbursement of $22.35 million, while cumulative disbursements under this facility reached $383.78 million during July-November FY26.

In addition, the report lists the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) oil facility, under which $100.00 million was disbursed in November, bringing cumulative disbursements under this facility to $500.00 million during the first five months of FY26.

The budgetary support section also includes programme-related financing, which recorded a November disbursement of $3.25 million, with cumulative disbursements reaching $22.22 million during July-November FY26.

Alongside active inflows, the report also records time deposits amounting to $9 billion, comprising $5 billion from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and $4 billion from SAFE China. These deposits are listed separately from foreign economic assistance and budgetary support and are shown as outstanding amounts rather than monthly disbursements. The report indicates that the deposit position remained unchanged during November 2025.

The monthly report presents all figures on a provisional basis, noting that adjustments may occur as reconciliations are completed with executing agencies and development partners. It also clearly distinguishes between project-based assistance, budgetary support, and deposit-based external financing within the overall external inflow framework.

Taken together, the data compiled for July-November FY26 show that Pakistan’s external financing receipts during the period comprised a mix of project-linked foreign economic assistance, budgetary support inflows and standing time deposits, as captured in the official external assistance record for November 2025.

Credit: INP-WealthPk