As of February 23, 2026, the Ministry of Finance has reiterated that Pakistan's total external debt and liabilities stand at $138 billion, which encompasses a variety of obligations including public and publicly guaranteed debt, liabilities of public sector enterprises, bank borrowings, and private-sector external debt. The actual External Public Debt, which is the government's direct obligation, is approximately $92 billion. The ministry highlighted that nearly 75% of this public external debt consists of concessional and long-term financing from multilateral institutions, excluding the IMF, and bilateral development partners. The average cost of this debt is around 4%, countering claims that interest rates are as high as 8%. Interest payments on public external debt have risen from $1.99 billion in FY2022 to $3.59 billion in FY2025, representing an 80.4% increase, not the 84% reported in some media outlets. This increase is attributed to higher global interest rates and the reliance on commercial loans, which typically carry higher costs. The ministry also noted that the increase in interest payments cannot be solely attributed to a growing debt stock, as additional inflows have largely come from concessional multilateral sources and the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility under the current support program.