Pakistan’s debt burden increases by Rs86.28 billion within seven days

In the week ending January 12, the government of Pakistan increased its debt burden by Rs86.28 billion, bringing the total net borrowing for the ongoing fiscal year 2024 to Rs2.57 trillion, as per the latest estimates from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The government’s borrowings fall into three main categories: budgetary support, commodity operations, and others.

The breakdown of the weekly net borrowing reveals that Rs87.7 billion was allocated for budgetary support, while Rs1.37 billion went towards retiring commodity operations.

Additionally, Rs48.4 million was used for other purposes during the week.

Cumulatively, this brings the borrowing figures for the fiscal year 2024 to Rs2.77 trillion for budgetary support, Rs193.72 billion for retiring commodity operations, and Rs1.1 billion for other purposes.

The primary sources of financing for budgetary support are the State Bank of Pakistan and the Scheduled Banks. In the ongoing fiscal year, the government has repaid a net sum of Rs1.05 trillion to the central bank.

The Federal Government accounted for Rs954.56 billion of this repayment, while the Provincial Government, AJK Government, and GB Government contributed Rs77.73 billion, Rs11.17 billion, and Rs2.05 billion, respectively.

On the other hand, scheduled banks have extended a net total of Rs3.81 trillion in loans. The Federal Government borrowed Rs3.9 trillion, while the Provincial Government repaid Rs90.41 billion during this period.