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By Our Reporter

The public debt has been swelling in recent years.

According to a latest report by the Public Debt Management Office, by mid-January of the current fiscal year the public debt has exceeded Rs. 2,536 billion. Of that, Rs. 102 billion was added after the formation of the present government under KP Sharma Oli.

It said Nepal’s total public debt has exceeded 44 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).     

At the beginning of the current fiscal year that commenced on July 16, the size of public debt was about Rs. 2435 billion and it rose to about Rs. 2537 billion.    

 This constitutes 44.46 per cent of the GDP. The contribution of foreign debt to the total public debt is 51.31 per cent amounting to over Rs. 1301 billion while the ratio of external debt to the GDP is 22.81 per cent.     

As the Office said, of the total public debt, the internal debt liability amounts to 48.68 per cent or Rs. 1234.7 billion while on the basis of the GDP, this is 21.64 per cent and the external debt makes up 22.81 per cent.  

The government had the target of raising public debt of Rs. 547 billion in the current fiscal year and it has already raised over Rs. 240 billion or 43.89 per cent of the annual target by mid-January.

 The government had the target of raising Rs. 330 billion as the internal debt in the current fiscal year and it has raised over Rs. 181 billion or 54.86 per cent.     

Similarly, the government has the target of mobilising Rs. 217 billion in external loans and until January 15, it raised Rs. 59 billion.

 The government had allocated Rs. 402.8 billion for reimbursement of the principal and interest of the public debt in the current fiscal year.