ISLAMABAD: The federal government’s total debt increased by Rs 17381.1 billion to Rs 61747.1 billion (a rise of 40%) during 16 months of the Shahbaz Sharif led government, according to statistics released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
According to documents, the federal government has obtained Rs 61747.1 billion in July 2023 which was Rs44366 billion in March 2022.
Document states that the Central Government External Debt has also surged to Rs22731 billion till July 2023 which includes Rs22,666.4 billion long term and Rs 65.2 billion short term.
The central bank’s data shows that the current government depended primarily on borrowing to cover the gap between its high expenditures and low collection of revenue.
According to SBP, the domestic debt of the federal government jacked up to Rs39015.5 billion in July 2023 which included Rs29587.6 billion long term loans, Rs2938 billion unfunded debt and Rs384.7 billion Foreign Currency Loans.
Under the category of long term loans, Rs 26264 billion permanent Debt, Rs 25,405 billion Federal government bonds, Rs382 billion prize bonds and Rs 474.9 billion SBP’s on-lending to GOP against SDRs allocation. The document states, the short term debt was recorded Rs 9288.9 billion which included Rs9222 billion Market Treasury Bills.
On the other hand, Debt under the Naya Pakistan Certificates remained Rs139 billion till July 2023. Meanwhile, the government obtained Rs22060 billion Pakistan Investment Bonds and Rs 3343 billion GOP Ijara Sukuk, the document added.
