Amid Pak's economic crisis, Punjab govt to spend Rs 2.3 bn on new vehicles

Amid the worsening situation of the economy in Pakistan, the cash-strapped country's Punjab caretaker government released a whopping Pakistani Rupee (Rs) 2.3 billion to purchase new vehicles for its officials, The News International reported.

At a time when the whole country is struggling to meet the International Monetary Fund's demands, the finance department issued a notification sanctioning Rs 2.3 billion for the purchase of new luxury vehicles.

According to the notification issued on July 20, the assistant commissioner of each tehsil will be provided with a new double cabin 4x4 Revo-G M/T, additional deputy commissioners (general) of each district will be provided new Yaris ATIV 1.3L while additional commissioners of each division will be provided Corolla 1.6 Altis CVT.

The notification said that the vehicles - presently used by the assistant commissioners - shall be allocated to tehsildars.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's external debt servicing obligations are $2.44 billion for the current month of July 2023, including $2.07 billion in non-guaranteed debt owed to China, according to The News International.

Another $1 billion safe deposit from China is also due, so Pakistan and China are currently working on the rollover of around $3 billion bilateral debt within the ongoing month.

According to official information made accessible to The News International, Pakistan must pay back the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia $195 million for the current month. According to The News International, Pakistan is required to repay China around $363 million in guaranteed bilateral loans, including principal and markup payments.

Pakistan has to repay external debt servicing to France to the tune of $2.85 million and Japan to $4.57 million.

In a guaranteed bilateral loans category, Pakistan needs to repay China to the tune of $402 million as principal and mark up in the ongoing month, The News International reported.

As commitment fees, Pakistan has to pay a penalty of $4 million within the ongoing month of fiscal year 2023-24. So total bilateral payment due within July 2023 stands at $513.32 million during the current month.