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KARACHI: The federal government’s total debt (domestic and external) stocks crossed the Rs50 trillion mark by the end of October 2022, indicating that PML-N led coalition government borrowed over 7200 billion rupees in just 7 months.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the central government’s total domestic and external debt stocks rose by 5 percent during the first four months of this fiscal year.
With current increase, cumulatively, the central government’s total domestic and external debt stocks rose to historical level of Rs50.152 trillion at the end of October 2022 compared to Rs 47.784 trillion in June 2022, depicting an increase of Rs23.673 trillion.
Economists said that the country’s debt burden is widening because of massive and continued borrowing from the domestic banking system and external resources to finance the fiscal deficit and external deficit. The federal government for the past many months is facing a serious financial crunch and completely relying on borrowing.
The thorough research showed that the domestic debt, which increased by Rs 14.636 trillion over the review period, was the largest factor in the overall growth. Domestic debt held by the federal government increased sharply, from Rs 31.037 trillion in June 2022 to Rs 32.501 trillion in October 2022. Domestic debt consisted of a total of Rs 6.763 trillion in floating debt, Rs 3.11 trillion in unfunded debt, and Rs 25.69 trillion in permanent debt.
Similarly, the upward trend was also seen in the federal government’s external debt, which went up by 5 percent or 9.037 trillion during the July-Oct of FY23. The government’s external debt stocks reached Rs 17.65 trillion in October 2022 as against Rs 16.747 trillion in June 2022.
