PM Shehbaz says debt repayments squeeze developing world

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif warned at the United Nations that debt repayments are consuming the funds developing countries need for basic services and long-term investment. Addressing a session on the Declaration on the Right to Development at UN headquarters, he said the growing burden of debt servicing leaves governments with little room to improve people's lives.

He said development must mean more than producing wealth. It must also advance social progress and protect human dignity, he told the session.

The prime minister recalled that the declaration, adopted around four decades ago, affirmed development as an inalienable right of every person. Its message, he said, still applies amid deepening global challenges.

He said every individual has a right to seek a better future, and development should create opportunities while protecting dignity and basic rights.

Shehbaz Sharif also said climate-related disasters are threatening hard-won development gains. A single natural disaster, he said, can erase years of progress and add to the burden on developing countries. He called for stronger international cooperation to help vulnerable nations.

Separately, ARY News reported that Pakistan's external debt inflows rose sharply in the first two months of the fiscal year. Citing the Economic Affairs Division's monthly report, the channel said the country received $1.70 billion in external loans in July-August, a 23.60 percent increase from $1.37 billion in the same period a year earlier. In rupee terms, the amount was Rs476 billion, against Rs391 billion previously.

Of that, $484.5 million came for projects and $1.21 billion as non-project financing. International financial institutions lent more than $590 million, with the World Bank providing $238.4 million, the Islamic Development Bank $191.2 million and the Asian Development Bank $95.7 million. Pakistan also received $35.2 million from other countries, including $12.8 million from Germany and $8.9 million from Saudi Arabia. The report, as cited by ARY, said $629.7 million was raised under the Naya Pakistan Certificate programme and $300 million was borrowed from foreign commercial banks.