The government has announced a 35% increase in foreign loan disbursement during the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2025-26, compared to the same period last year.

According to data released by the Economic Relations Division (ERD) on Saturday, foreign loan disbursements for the July-September period reached $1.15 billion, up from $846.1 million during the same period in the previous fiscal year.

The figures come amid a period of economic stagnation, which was influenced by the political turbulence surrounding the quota reform movement.

The ERD also reported that in the first three months of FY 2025-26, the government made foreign loan repayments amounting to $1.28 billion. Of this, $816.8 million was principal repayment and approximately $462.9 million was interest.

In comparison, during the same period last year, foreign loan repayments totalled $1.13 billion, including both principal and interest. This represents a 13.5% increase in repayments.

For the July-September period, commitments for foreign loans and grants totalled $910.6 million, a rise of $27.4 million from the previous year’s figure for the same period.

In the last fiscal year, foreign loan disbursement amounted to $8.57 billion, a decrease from the $10.28 billion disbursed in the previous year. Despite the reduction in disbursement, loan repayments in the 2024-25 fiscal year rose to $4.08 billion, which included $2.59 billion in principal repayments and $1.49 billion in interest.