Public debt increases by Rs 84 billion in three months

KATHMANDU: Around Rs 84 billion public debt has been added in the first four months of the current fiscal year 2081-82 BS (2024-25).

According to the Public Debt Management Office, Nepal’s total public debt has exceeded 44 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

At the beginning of the current fiscal year, the size of public debt was Rs 2434 billion 90 million and it rose by Rs 83 billion 950 million till November 15 to reach Rs 2518 billion 50 million, the Office said in its report.

This constitutes 44.94 percent of the GDP. According to the Office, of the total public debt, the internal debt responsibility amounts to Rs 1252 billion 161.8 million while the external debt responsibility is 1265 billion 897.2 million.

On the basis of the GDP, the internal debt makes up 21.95 percent and the external debt makes up 22.19 percent.

The government has the target of mobilizing public loan of Rs 547 billion in the current fiscal year.

Public loan of Rs 165.72 billion has been raised until the first quarter. The total public loan mobilized so far is 30.30 percent of the annual target.

The government had the target of raising public loans of Rs 330 billion in the current fiscal year and it has raised Rs 144 billion or 43.64 percent of the annual target within the first quarter.

Similarly, the government has the target of mobilizing Rs 217 billion in external loans until November 15 and it has raised Rs 21.72 billion or 10.1 percent of the target until that date.

The government had allocated Rs 402 billion budget for reimbursement of the principal and interest of the public loan in the current fiscal year.

Principal and interest worth Rs 108.14 billion has been paid until November 15, the Office stated in its report.

The expenditure made for paying the principal and interest until November 15 is 1.90 percent of the total GDP.