Islamabad, Jan 9 (PTI) Pakistan's central bank chief on Thursday said the country's debt level and balance of payment are under control and economic targets were being met.

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmed, at a press briefing, said the country's external debt level remained the same as it was in 2022.

Also Read | UK Bestiality Horror: Man Breaks Into Farm in Wiltshire, Has Sex With Shetland Pony; Investigation Underway.

"Overall, Pakistan's foreign debt volume has improved significantly," he said, highlighting that the actual foreign debt stood at more than USD 100.08 billion.

Ahmed also said the money borrowed this year was mostly through multilateral institutions and that short-term debt was being paid by long-term debt, due to which debt servicing would improve, along with the balance of payments.

Also Read | Layoffs Begin at Partner Organisations As Meta Ends Fact-Checking Program for Facebook and Instagram: Report.

The governor admitted that the balance of payments had been a challenge, but the country had enough reserves to meet external demands.

"The issue of balance of payments rises when we exceed growth by 4 per cent, and we do not have the foreign exchange component capacity to meet that, then that growth turns unsustainable," he said.

He also said that Pakistan's current account will remain in surplus in December.

The central bank chief stressed that business confidence would be better and foreign direct investment would follow once the economy improved.

In 2025, both current account and inflation will be better. The inflation target has been estimated at 5-7 per cent.

Ahmed also said that remittances were expected to cross USD 35 billion this financial year ending June 30, 2025.

Pakistan had a close brush with default in 2022-23 when it faced crushing inflation that reached 38 per cent in May 2023, while its foreign exchange reserves dipped to USD 4.6 billion, just enough to cover three weeks of imports.

However, the situation improved after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) provided two back-to-back bailout packages.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)