1. Legislative and Institutional Strengthening

• Revise the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation (FRDL) Act to clearly define parliamentary oversight mechanisms, introduce realistic debt ceilings, and mandate public disclosure of contingent liabilities and guarantees.
• Establish a Parliamentary Debt Oversight Unit (DOU) composed of non-partisan economists, legal experts, and researchers to provide continuous analysis of borrowing decisions, loan terms, and debt sustainability.
• Ensure independence of the Debt Management Office.

2. Enhancing Transparency and Accountability

• Mandate annual debt bulletins and quarterly public debt reports to be presented in Parliament and published online, including domestic and external debt, contingent liabilities, and debt-servicing projections.
• Develop a digital debt management dashboard to allow real-time tracking of public debt indicators, linked to the State Bank, Finance Division, and Economic Affairs Division data.
• Introduce pre-loan scrutiny protocols requiring ministries to justify how each borrowing is in sync with with national and provincial development priorities before approval.

3. Strengthening Parliamentary Capacity

• Institutionalise capacity-building programmes for members of the finance and public accounts committees to improve literacy on debt, fiscal indicators, and macroeconomic linkages.
• Expand membership and diversify expertise within the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance ensuring inclusion of economists, social scientists, and fiscal analysts as technical advisers.
• Require debate on the Medium-Term Debt Strategy (MTDS) and budget strategy papers at least three months before budget approval, ensuring meaningful parliamentary input.

4. Integrating Debt with Development Outcomes

• Link borrowing decisions to SDG-aligned development outcomes, with mandatory impact assessments before major loan approvals.
• Embed performance-based indicators into debt utilisation reports (e.g., how much borrowing contributed to infrastructure, education, or employment outcomes).
• Prioritise productive debt (investment in human capital, renewable energy, and industrial competitiveness) over consumptive debt (recurrent expenditures).

5. Improving Coordination and Data Integration

• Integrate debt databases across the Finance Division, Economic Affairs Division, and State Bank to remove data inconsistencies and duplication.
• Establish inter-agency debt committees chaired by the Parliamentary Finance Committee to regularly review debt positions and new commitments.
• Encourage cross-party consensus on debt management principles to avoid policy reversals with government changes.

6. Promoting Fiscal Responsibility and Public Engagement

• Empower local governments to raise revenues and manage local borrowing responsibly, easing pressure on federal debt.
• Introduce citizen debt literacy programmes and open data portals so the public and media can monitor debt trends and hold policymakers accountable.
• Foster continuous dialogue between Parliament, civil society, and think tanks (SDPI, PIDE, PRIME) to ensure evidence-based decision-making.

7. Long-term Strategic Reforms

• Adopt a Medium-Term Debt Strategy (MTDS) and ensure parliamentary approval before implementation.
• Institutionalise periodic audits of debt instruments by the Auditor General and require follow-up actions reported to Parliament.
• Link monetary policy and debt strategy coordination through joint sessions between the State Bank and Finance Committees.