LAHORE: The Pakistan Kisan Rabita Committee (PKRC) and international activists on Friday demanded an immediate five-year suspension of foreign debt repayments, saying that every Pakistani citizen is now burdened with an average debt of Rs250,000 for the loans that have failed to improve public welfare.

At a public forum, titled “The Debt Crisis and the People’s Future,” speakers characterised Pakistan’s economic state as a “vicious cycle” where new loans are taken solely to service old ones.

Chaired by PKRC Secretary General Riffat Maqsood, the session called for a radical shift in national priorities, diverting funds from international creditors to education, healthcare and climate resilience.

Experts, at the forum, highlighted the disconnect between massive borrowing and the deteriorating quality of life for the working class.

PKRC demands five-year debt suspension

Badr Alam, Executive Director of Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development, a think tank, noted that Pakistan’s economic policy is effectively dictated by the IMF, with taxes imposed on the public while the resulting funds never reach the grassroots.

He argued that since the people neither took these loans nor benefited from them, they should not be the ones forced to repay them.

Anfal Nadir, a climate researcher, highlighted the staggering global disparity, noting that between 2022 and 2024, developing countries paid over $741 billion in debt servicing to wealthy nations — a figure that far exceeds the principal amount borrowed. This “debt trap”, he says, ensures that poorer nations remain perpetually dependent.

Farooq Tariq, President of the Haqooq-e-Khalq Party, cited reports that the current government has taken a record $24.5bn loans over the last year alone, even as 20 million more Pakistanis have been pushed below the poverty line.

The forum featured leaders from the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), including Lidy Nacpil and Mae Buenaventura. They emphasised that Pakistan’s struggle is part of a broader Asian crisis, where collective debt reaches $300bn.

Nacpil described the current debt architecture as a “global mechanism of control” used by wealthy nations to exploit the Global South.

The speakers specifically noted the injustice of requiring debt payments from countries currently reeling from floods and droughts, arguing that climate-impacted nations should be granted immediate relief.

The PKRC demanded immediate cancellation of “illegitimate debt” — loans taken by undemocratic regimes or those that did not serve the public interest.

It called for an end to IMF-mandated austerity, insisting that debt relief must not come at the cost of cuts to health, education, or essential subsidies.

The committee demanded that loan agreements be made fully transparent and subject to citizen review to stop exploitative lending practices.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2026