ISLAMABAD: Pakistan plans to refinance some of its short-term external debt into longer maturities over the next two to three years to reduce rollover risks while keeping its overall external debt broadly unchanged at close to $100 billion, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told Bloomberg on Monday.
Speaking to Bloomberg News, Aurangzeb said the strategy is aimed at extending repayment timelines rather than increasing the country's debt burden.
"This year, it is not a question that we absolutely need to cover the external financing gap, but for the next two to three years, what we do want to do is to see if some of our short-term external debt can be refinanced into longer tenors, longer maturities, so [the] country does not have to go into this rollover risk of short-term debt," Aurangzeb said.
"We want to keep the overall quantum of our external debt, which is close to $100 billion, but think about it mostly as replacement rates, as diversification and elongating maturities," he added, speaking on Bloomberg: The China Show.
On raising capital from international markets, Aurangzeb said Pakistan is "not in a rush" to issue bonds this fiscal year.
He said the government has mandated Islamic Sukuks and, for the first time, dollar-settled but rupee-denominated bonds, adding that "a lot of reverse inquiries are coming through."
"Going forward, we are going to issue RFPs for the remaining Panda bonds. For the first time, you are also going to see if we can go for tokenisation of our existing Eurobonds," he said.
Pakistan expects economic growth above 4% and aims to raise more than $1 billion through privatization, according to the finance minister.
Aurangzeb departed for Bangkok, Thailand, last week to lead Pakistan's delegation to the World Bank Group–IMF Annual Meetings 2026, scheduled for October 12–18.
During the visit, he will represent Pakistan at key IMF and World Bank Group events and undertake more than 60 high-level engagements with international financial institutions, finance ministers and policymakers, development partners, global investors, banks, credit rating agencies, think tanks and international media.
The visit comes as Pakistan continues its transition from macroeconomic stabilization toward sustainable, investment- and export-led growth, while advancing structural reforms and strengthening engagement with international capital markets and development partners.
