Public debt reaches Rs. 2,433.23 billion adding Rs. 134.68 billion in FY 2023/24

Kathmandu, July 22: The total outstanding debt of the government reached Rs. 2,433.23 billion by the end of the last fiscal year 2023/24. 

Out of total debt, external debt amounts to Rs. 1,252.33 billion and domestic debt comprises Rs. 1,180.90 billion, according to a report of Public Debt Management Office under the Ministry of Finance.

Around Rs. 134.68 billion public debt has been added in the last fiscal year 2023/24 alone. The total public debt was Rs. 2,299.35 billion by the end of last fiscal year 2022/23. 

During the last fiscal year 2023/24, the total outstanding debt has increased by 5.53 per cent consisting of an increase in external debt and internal debt by 7 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively.

Share of external public debt to the total outstanding debts is 51.47 per cent while the share of domestic debt is 48.53 per cent. The government has mobilised an additional loan of Rs. 358.02 billion in the last fiscal year. 

Out of additional public debt, the government has mobilised a loan of Rs. 234.42 billion under the domestic debt and Rs. 123.60 billion under the external debt.

The government has set a target of collecting an additional Rs. 452.75 billion loan to meet the budget deficit for the current fiscal year. Out of this Rs. 240 billion is aimed to be collected through domestic borrowing and Rs. 212.75 billion through external loans.  

However, the government was able to collect only 79 per cent debt of the target in the last fiscal year. The data also shows that the government has paid only Rs. 305.37 billion as principal payments of such loans. 

Of them, the government has paid Rs. 255.25 billion for principal payment of domestic loans and Rs. 49.99 billion for external loans. The government has spent 92.54 per cent of the total budget allocation for principal and interest payment in the last fiscal year.

The government had allocated budget of Rs. 330 billion for the financial management in the last fiscal year. Domestic debt comprises mainly short-term and long-term securities issued at the domestic market and loans borrowed from the central bank.

The total debt to GDP ratio is 42.65 per cent as of mid-July, 2024. The external debt to GDP ratio is 21.95 per cent and domestic debt to GDP ratio is 20.70 per cent.

At the end of fiscal year 2022/23, the debt to GDP ratio was 42.73 per cent consisting of 21.75 per cent on external debt and 20.98 per cent on domestic debt.  

According to the statistics, International Development Association (IDA) is responsible for the largest share of outstanding external debt (48.93 per cent) followed by the Asian Development DB (32.54 per cent). 

These multilateral agencies hold nearly 89.07 per cent while bilateral agencies hold 10.93 of the government's outstanding external debt.