Kathmandu, Sept 23: Nepal’s public debt reached Rs 2.9817 trillion by the end of Bhadra, equivalent to 45.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), according to the Public Debt Management Office. The country’s GDP is estimated at around Rs 6.6 trillion.
Foreign loans accounted for the larger share of the debt. External debt stood at Rs 1.6112 trillion, or 54.19 per cent of total public debt and 24.41 per cent of GDP. Domestic debt stood at Rs 1.3619 trillion, representing 45.81 per cent of total debt and 20.63 per cent of GDP.
For fiscal year 2083/84, the government has set a target to raise Rs 658.28 billion through public loans. It had received Rs 61.06 billion by the end of Bhadra, meeting 9.28 per cent of that target.
Of the Rs 410 billion domestic borrowing target, the government had raised Rs 50 billion, or 12.20 per cent. It had received Rs 11.06 billion in foreign loans, just 4.45 per cent of its Rs 248.28 billion target. Domestic borrowing made up 81.89 per cent of loans received so far, while foreign borrowing accounted for 18.11 per cent. Deputy Secretary Prakash Pudasaini said domestic loans were being raised according to the government’s schedule.
The government allocated Rs 417.89 billion this fiscal year to repay loan principal and interest. By the end of Bhadra, it had paid Rs 85.01 billion, or 20.34 per cent of the allocation. That amount equals 1.29 per cent of GDP.
Domestic debt payments totalled Rs 76.80 billion: Rs 63.55 billion in principal and Rs 13.25 billion in interest. Foreign debt payments reached Rs 8.21 billion: Rs 6.59 billion in principal and Rs 1.62 billion in interest. Both borrowing and repayments rose in Bhadra compared with the previous month.
Exchange rate changes also affect the rupee value of foreign debt. Nepal Rastra Bank said the Nepali rupee appreciated by 0.9 per cent against the US dollar between the end of Asar and the end of Shrawan 2083. At the end of Shrawan, the bank’s buying rate was Rs 152.39 per dollar.
The Auditor General’s 63rd annual report said exchange rate movements alone had added Rs 115.76 billion to Nepal’s debt burden by the end of Chaitra 2082.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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