KARACHI: The federal government’s total debt stock surged by over Rs 6 trillion during the first ten months of this fiscal year (FY25) due to massive borrowing to finance the budget deficit.
According to a statistic released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday, the central government’s total debt, comprising domestic and external liabilities, rose by 9 percent during July-April of FY25. Overall, the stock reached an all-time high level of Rs 74.936 trillion by the end of April 2025 compared to Rs 68.914 trillion as of June 2024, depicting an increase of Rs 6.022 trillion.
The major growth in debt stocks was attributed to domestic borrowings, which rose by 11.37 percent or Rs 5.363 trillion to reach Rs 52.523 trillion in April 2025 up from Rs 47.16 trillion in June 2024. The domestic debt comprised long-term loans worth Rs 44.132 trillion and short-term borrowings amounting to Rs 8.328 trillion.
Pakistan govt’s debt stock soars to Rs73.6trn by March-end
External debt, in rupee terms, saw an increase of Rs 659 billion during the first ten months of FY25, reaching Rs 22.413 trillion by the end of April 2025 compared to Rs 21.754 trillion in June 2024. The SBP reported that the Weighted Average Customer Exchange Rate of the US dollar was Rs 278.3668 in June 2024 and Rs 280.9739 in April 2025.
The federal government’s debt showed a notable increase of Rs 1.248 trillion in April 2025 due to massive borrowing to finance the budget deficit. On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, the federal government’s debt stock rose by 2 percent from Rs 73.688 trillion in March 2025 to Rs 74.936 trillion in April 2025.
Analysts noted that the tax collection by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is 26 percent higher during the first eleven (July-May) months of this fiscal year compared to previous year; however, cumulatively FBR has failed to achieve the target. The shortfall in revenue collection has compelled the federal government to borrow from domestic and external resources.
FBR had missed its revenue collection target by some one trillion rupees in the first eleven months of this fiscal year due to lower imports and slowing economic growth. The FBR has collected some Rs10.233 trillion between July-May of FY25 as against the budgetary target of Rs11.241 trillion for the same period.
The SBP has already emphasised the need for a sharp acceleration in tax revenue growth to meet the annual targets. Achieving the primary balance target remains a significant challenge for the government.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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