PTI government accumulates record debt of Rs7.5 trillion in first year

Data released by State Bank shows total debt increased by 1.43 per cent in first two months of fiscal year

Web Desk

October 08, 2019

PTI government accumulated record debt in its first year in power. Photo: File

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) government, in its first year of power, has accumulated a record public debt of Rs7,509 billion, according to official documents.

According to sources, the foreign debt incurred from August 2018 to August 2019 stood at Rs2,804 billion, while the internally accumulated figure stood at Rs4,705 billion.

Sources added that Pakistan’s total public debt increased by 1.43 per cent to Rs32.240 trillion in the first two months of the current fiscal year.

Also read: Pakistan’s external liabilities shoots up, touches record high of $106 billion

Total public debt stood at Rs31.786 trillion at the end of June 2019, the data released by the State Bank of Pakistan showed.

Of the total public debt, the share of domestic debt increased by 3.68 per cent to Rs21.495 trillion at the end of August. Foreign debt, however, fell 2.80 per cent to Rs10.745 trillion in the period under review.

The tax collection in the first quarter of the current fiscal year stood at Rs960 billion, falling short of the government’s target of Rs1 trillion for July-September.

Also read: Pakistan’s basic debts are so big that we are near bankruptcy, says Asad Umar

The government has projected public debt to increase by 47 per cent to Rs45.57 trillion in five years.

The domestic debt is also set to increase 30 per cent to Rs26.8 trillion, while external debt is expected to surge 80 per cent to Rs18.77 trillion.