Pakistan has taken charge of a UN-backed platform that helps developing countries manage debt and make their concerns heard. But Pakistan, which narrowly avoided default in 2023, will get no automatic relief from its own repayments. Here’s what an experienced Pakistan would bring to the table.

Pakistan, itself burdened by heavy debt, has taken the chair of a UN-backed forum created to give developing countries a stronger voice on international borrowing. Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb accepted the chairmanship of the Borrowers’ Platform’s Governing Council in Bangkok on October 12, according to Pakistan’s government.

The serial borrower nation would be responsible for guiding cooperation on debt management, sharing reform experiences, and advancing the platform’s 2026-27 work programme.

The Borrowers’ Platform brings borrowing developing countries together to exchange knowledge, improve debt-management capacity and discuss common challenges, with the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), serving as its secretariat. Pakistan will chair its political decision-making body, while a separate Steering Committee would handle technical and operational work.

The appointment comes as Pakistan continues to seek external financial support. As recently as October 7, Pakistan reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF that could unlock about $1.21 billion, subject to approval by the Fund’s Executive Board. In 2023, Pakistan narrowly avoided a sovereign default with a $3 billion IMF bailout, before securing a $7 billion programme in 2024. It subsequently secured a separate $1.3 billion IMF climate-resilience loan.

Its total external debt and liabilities stood at $137.55 billion at the end of March 2026, according to State Bank of Pakistan data.

So, what does the body that Pakistan is now leading do? Globally, the platform responds to a longstanding imbalance in which creditors have established coordination mechanisms, but borrowers have lacked a comparable permanent space for cooperation. Pakistan, at least, will not be short of experience to bring to the table.

WHAT IS THE BORROWERS’ PLATFORM

The idea for the body took shape at a global development-financing conference in Seville, Spain, in July 2025. The platform was formally launched in Washington on April 15, 2026, according to UNCTAD.

The platform lets governments learn from each other’s borrowing experiences, get expert help and share information on managing debt. Countries can choose to join without paying a membership fee, according to UNCTAD.

“The Paris Club has got 70 years of the Borrowers’ Club,” Penelope Hawkins, acting head of UNCTAD’s Debt and Development Finance branch, told Reuters at the April launch.

She was referring to the decades-long head start of the Paris Club, a group of countries that lend money to other governments.

WHAT PAKISTAN WILL DO AS HEAD OF BORROWERS’ PLATFORM

Pakistan helped set up the platform before becoming its chair. It was vice-chair of an Egypt-led working group that also included Colombia, Honduras, the Maldives, Nepal and Zambia. The group worked out what the platform would do, how it would run, and who could join.

According to UNCTAD, members elect a chair each year. Finance ministers, central bank governors and other senior officials set its priorities through the Governing Council, while the Steering Committee handles the technical work.

Pakistan minister Aurangzeb said the Islamic Republic would focus on helping countries manage debt better, learn from each other’s reforms and explore new ways to finance development, according to the government’s October 12 statement. He also called for plans to be put into action and results that could be measured.

While these would be the duties of Pakistan and the borrower’s club, the UNCTAD said the platform will not negotiate loan terms or debt repayments on behalf of its members. It will work alongside existing debt arrangements, so Pakistan will not get its loans reduced or written off simply because it chairs the group.

Pakistan’s role is to help debt-burdened countries share knowledge, something it might have plenty of. The platform will also provide expert support and amplify the concerns of member countries. The bottom line is that Pakistan might be heading the borrowers’ table, but its creditors are unlikely to mistake the title for a repayment.

(Written by Sushim Mukul)