KARACHI: The central government’s total domestic and external debt stock rose by 8.6 percent during the first 10 months of this fiscal year (FY24).

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday reported that cumulatively, the central government’s total domestic and external debt stock reached Rs 66.083 trillion at the end of April 2024 compared to Rs 60.841 trillion in June 2023, depicting an increase of Rs 5.242 trillion.

During July-April of FY24, the major increase was witnessed in domestic debt, which rose by 14.6 percent or Rs 5.671 trillion. The federal government’s domestic debt surged to Rs 44.48 trillion in April 2024 up from Rs 38.810 trillion in June 2023.

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Under domestic debt, long term debt mounted up by 20 percent to Rs 35.22 trillion at the end of April 2024 as against Rs 29.332 trillion in June 2023. Long term debt included Rs 32 trillion of permanent debt, Rs 2.79 trillion of unfunded debt and Rs 373 billion of foreign currency loan.

During the period under review, short term domestic debt fell slightly 1.8 percent to Rs 9.166 trillion at the end of April 2024.

Similarly, the federal government’s external debt declined by 2 percent from Rs 22.031 trillion in June 2023 to Rs 21.602 trillion in April 2024. This included Rs 21.499 billion of long-term external debt and Rs 102 billion of short-term debt. US dollar, last day Weighted Average Customer Exchange Rates was Rs 286.3905 in June 2023 and Rs 278.3527 in April 2024.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024