Government Adds Over NPR 23 Billion to Public Debt in Shrawan, Total Liabilities Near NPR 3 Trillion

In the month of Shrawan, the government raised NPR 2.329 billion in loans and repaid NPR 2.006 billion, leading to a net increase of NPR 323 million in the public debt. Due to an exchange rate gain of NPR 858 million, the total public debt, which stood at NPR 2.981 trillion at the end of Ashad, decreased by NPR 503 million by the end of Shrawan. The National Natural Resources and Finance Commission has recommended that internal debt should not be used for current or administrative expenditures but only for capital investment projects.

The government mobilized approximately NPR 2.323 billion in loans during the first month of the fiscal year 2083/84 (Shrawan). According to the Public Debt Management Office, the government raised NPR 2.329 billion and repaid NPR 2.006 billion in the same month. This resulted in a net increase of NPR 323 million in public debt within just one month. Furthermore, due to an exchange rate gain of NPR 858 million, the total public debt reduced to NPR 2.976 billion.

Typically, external borrowing is low in the first month of the fiscal year, so the net increase in public debt tends not to be high. In Shrawan of the previous fiscal year, the government had mobilized a total of NPR 4.457 billion in loans, of which NPR 4 billion was internal debt. This year, only NPR 2 billion of internal debt has been mobilized in Shrawan. As of the end of Shrawan, the total public debt stands at 45.10% of Nepal’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), comprising NPR 1.598 trillion (24.22% of GDP) in internal debt and NPR 1.377 trillion (20.87% of GDP) in external debt.