Pakistan''s total debt stocks (domestic and external) continue to surge hitting fresh peak of Rs 23.6 trillion during the first 10 months of this fiscal year (FY18), mainly due to fiscal imbalance. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has revealed that the federal government''s total debt stocks have posted a sharp increase during current fiscal year, mainly owing to expansion in fiscal deficit as the revenue growth is less than rising expenditures.
The central government''s total debt stocks have recorded an increase of 13 percent during July-April of current fiscal year. Total debt stock have reached a new peak of Rs 23.606 trillion by the end of April 2018 compared to Rs 20.768 trillion on June 30, 2017, depicting an increase of Rs 2.838 trillion.
This increase originated from the rise in domestic as well as external debt. During the period under review, domestic debt posted an increase of some 9 percent, while external debt stocks registered an increase of 25 percent.
The federal government''s domestic debt rose by Rs 1.361 trillion to Rs 16.21 trillion in April 2018 up from Rs 14.849 trillion on June 30, 2018.
The federal government has some Rs 7.387 trillion of long-term domestic debt that included permanent debt Rs 4.575 trillion, unfunded debt Rs 2.807 trillion and Rs 5.1 billion of foreign currency loans. In addition, domestic debt included Rs 8.823 trillion of short-term or floating debt.
The government external debt went up by Rs 1.477 trillion to reach Rs 7.396 trillion in April 2018 compared to Rs 5.919 trillion at the end of June 2017. This includes long-term loans worth Rs 7.269 trillion and short-term loans worth Rs 126.7 billion. According to the SBP, central government''s external debt excludes International Monetary Fund loans to central bank for balance of payment support, foreign exchange liabilities but includes IMF loan for budgetary support.
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