ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s power sector circular debt rose by Rs79 billion in the first quarter (July–September) of FY2025-26, reaching Rs1.693 trillion by the end of September.
The debt stock, which stood at Rs1.614 trillion at the close of FY2024-25 in June, saw a renewed uptick in the first three months of the new fiscal year — a development that reignited concerns about inefficiencies and financial losses in the energy supply chain.
Energy experts said the buildup reflected lingering power theft, weak recoveries and structural flaws within state-run distribution companies (Discos).
Receivables from K-Electric alone stood at Rs229 billion by September 2025, including Rs42 billion in principal and Rs187 billion in markup.
The growing receivables and debt pile-up have once again put pressure on the government to accelerate reforms and plug financial leakages that continue to burden the national exchequer.
It may be noted that the country’s goods trade deficit widened nearly 55.88% year-on-year in October 2025 to $3.21 billion, official data showed Tuesday, as imports jumped and exports slipped, deepening stress on the country’s fragile external sector and threatening currency stability.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), imports surged 20.18% to $6.06 billion, while exports fell 4.46% to $2.85 billion in October over the same month of last year. The gap, though still huge, was 4.2% narrower than September’s deficit of $3.35 billion.
During the first four months (July-October) of the ongoing fiscal year, the trade gap ballooned 38% year-on-year to $12.58 billion. Imports during this period climbed 15.1% to $23.03 billion, while exports slipped 4.04% to $10.45 billion.
Economists warned that the widening deficit could strain foreign exchange reserves, put pressure on the rupee and complicate external debt repayments.
PBS data, however, interestingly showed the services trade deficit reducing 34.3% in September 2025, to $198.5 million, compared with $302 million a year earlier. Services exports rose 20.3% to $796.7 million, while imports edged up 3.17% to $995.2 million.
In the last fiscal year (FY25), the services trade deficit had narrowed 15.8 percent to $2.62 billion, driven by a 9.2% rise in services exports to $8.4 billion, compared with a modest 2% increase in imports to $11 billion.
