Pakistan will struggle to break out of a cycle of ongoing debt repayments without reform, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan told the Financial Times in an interview.

Khan told the publication that the government needed to break out of borrowing cycles that have held back developing economies. He, however, ruled out a default if his party returned to power, saying it would prioritise domestic reforms over seeking debt relief.

“Whatever we do, when we look ahead, the debt is growing, our economy is slowly shrinking. From my party’s point of view, we’ve started thinking that we’re stuck,” the report quoted him as saying.