The total debt of the federal government during the month of May 2021 surged to Rs37.997 trillion from Rs34.489 trillion in May 2020, showing an increase of Rs3.508 trillion or around 10.17 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis.
According to the data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), on a monthly basis, the central government debt increased by 2.48 percent against Rs37.078 trillion reported in April 2021.
The data released by the SBP shows that the larger portion of the debt was domestic, whereas the remaining was external. The central government domestic debt amounted to Rs26.065 trillion during the month, signifying a growth of around 10.86 percent YoY, comprising Rs19.378 trillion long-term debt and Rs6.662 trillion short term debt.
By the end of May 2021, the government’s long-term debt escalated by approximately 11 percent when compared to Rs17.460 trillion at the end of May 2020 while it witnessed a meagre increase of 1.08 percent on monthly basis. It is mainly due to the government’s decision to increase the maturity period of debt through converting its short-term borrowing from the central bank to long-term debt.
Meanwhile, the short-term debt surged by 10.07 percent YoY while on monthly basis, it inflated by 8.33 percent to stand at Rs6.66 trillion. Within the long-term domestic debt, the Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) accounted for Rs14.32 trillion, and Saving Schemes accounted for Rs3.51 trillion. While in the short-term domestic debt, Market Treasury Bills (MTBs) amounted to Rs6.65 trillion. A breakup of the Central Government External Debt shows that nearly Rs11.81 trillion came from long-term loans while Rs121.6 billion came from short-term loans.
