Pakistan's Finance Minister Says Islamabad Sought a $10 Billion Swap Line From the US

Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in a Financial Times interview published Monday, 2 Shahrivar 1405 (August 24, 2026), and carried by Donya-e-Eqtesad on Tuesday, 3 Shahrivar, that Islamabad requested a 10 billion dollar currency swap line from Washington last month to signal confidence to private investors. He described the move as part of a shift in Pakistan's economic policy away from reliance on Chinese loans toward US backed financing.

Aurangzeb said the US Export-Import Bank and the US International Development Finance Corporation have shown willingness to take on risk in Pakistan, including financing Boeing aircraft purchases by the newly privatized Pakistan International Airlines and helping modernize the country's oil refineries. According to World Bank data, China holds 23 percent of Pakistan's 129.7 billion dollar external debt, its largest creditor, while Pakistan's trade deficit for the year ending in June reached 39.5 billion dollars, the highest in four years.