Grappling with debt, Pakistan pipe-dreams of becoming world's sixth largest economy before 2050
Despite managing a severe national debt crisis, Pakistan has been appointed to chair the UN-backed Borrowers' Platform for 2026-27 to guide other developing nations
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently claimed that the nation could become the world's sixth largest economy before 2050, significantly accelerating a previous Goldman Sachs projection. However, this ambitious economic vision contrasts sharply with Islamabad's severe financial reality, as the country struggles with mounting external debts exceeding $100 billion and relies heavily on loans from Saudi Arabia, China, and the IMF. Although its debt has nearly doubled over the past decade, Pakistan has ironically been chosen to chair the UN-backed Borrowers' Platform to help guide other developing nations in managing sovereign debt.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently claimed that the nation could become the world's sixth largest economy before 2050, significantly accelerating a previous Goldman Sachs projection. However, this ambitious economic vision contrasts sharply with Islamabad's severe financial reality, as the country struggles with mounting external debts exceeding $100 billion and relies heavily on loans from Saudi Arabia, China, and the IMF. Although its debt has nearly doubled over the past decade, Pakistan has ironically been chosen to chair the UN-backed Borrowers' Platform to help guide other developing nations in managing sovereign debt.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently claimed that the nation could become the world's sixth largest economy before 2050, significantly accelerating a previous Goldman Sachs projection. However, this ambitious economic vision contrasts sharply with Islamabad's severe financial reality, as the country struggles with mounting external debts exceeding $100 billion and relies heavily on loans from Saudi Arabia, China, and the IMF. Although its debt has nearly doubled over the past decade, Pakistan has ironically been chosen to chair the UN-backed Borrowers' Platform to help guide other developing nations in managing sovereign debt.
Ambitious or just a pipe dream? Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday that Pakistan could become the world's sixth largest economy before 2050. The grandiose announcement revised a 2022 Goldman Sachs projection forecasting Pakistan economy at sixth position by 2075.
The current reality is that Islamabad is grappling with debts and is surviving on billions of loans from Riyadh. Saudi Arabia's lifeline of $3 billion was extended to Pakistan in order to cover the $3.5 billion obligations to the UAE. A separate $5 billion funding was previously extended until 2028.
China, however, remains Pakistan's biggest individual creditor, with outstanding loans worth $22.4 billion. Beijing has extended the maturity of $2 billion in loans.
Islamabad also owes $19.2 billion to the World Bank and $16.83 billion to Asian Development Bank (ADB). The International Monetary Fund (IMF) disbursed $2.3 billion under its Extended Fund Facility and Resilience and Sustainability Facility schemes.
Pakistan's external debt has historically increased by $5-6 billion annually. In 2014, Islamabad had a debt of $45 billion and currently, it stands at $100 billion, according to Pakistan Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb's own admission.
However, a World Bank report showed that the external debt of Islamabad has nearly doubled over the past decade, rising from $68.67 billion in 2015 to $135.1 billion in 2025.
Ironically, Pakistan is chairing the Governing Council of the UN-backed Borrowers' Platform for 2026-27, where it has been tasked with guiding over 30 developing countries manage sovereign debt. Experts suggest that Pakistan was appointed to the chair, given its years of experience in dealing with external funding, IMF schemes etc.