Total volume of debt on Pakistan has risen to Rs49.2 trillion

The National Assembly was informed on Monday that Pakistan now owes a total of Rs49,200 billion.

According to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, as of June 30, 2022, the country had a domestic debt of Rs31,000 billion and an external debt of Rs18,160 billion.

Indicators for the sustainability of the nation’s external debt further declined in the previous fiscal year, according to a report from the finance ministry, as a result of the government’s increased reliance on short-term loans from abroad and the risks associated with refinancing and rupee depreciation.

For the fiscal year 2021–2022, the public debt indicators linked to debt maturity, currency risks, refinancing risks, and interest rate risks had gotten worse, according to the Annual Debt Review and Public Debt Bulletin.

The Public Debt Management Office and the federal government did a dismal job, within a year, the overall public debt increased by Rs9.3 trillion, from Rs39.9 trillion to Rs49.2 trillion. according to Express Tribune.

According to the finance ministry, currency depreciation caused an increase of Rs3.8 trillion as the exchange rate dropped from Rs157.3 to a dollar in June 2021 to Rs204.4 in June 2022. Budget finance requirements were the cause of the remaining increase.

The proportion of external debt in the total public debt climbed from 34 per cent in 2020–21 to 37 per cent in the most recent fiscal year. It was approaching the 40 per cent upper limit.