KARACHI: The domestic debt of the central government has increased by Rs3 trillion during the first 8 months of the current financial year, reported the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday.

The central bank data showed the stock of government debt rose to Rs34.071 trillion in February compared to Rs31.037tr in June 2022, an increase of 9.7 per cent.

The central government’s domestic borrowings incre­ased by 23pc to Rs34.07tr in Febru­ary from Rs27.7tr in the same month last year.

The SBP data showed the central government’s public debt (including external debt) increased by 13.7pc to Rs54.353tr during the first 8 months of 2022-23.

The external debt in rupee terms rose 21pc to Rs20.281tr by the end of February. The stock external debt at the end of June 2022 was Rs16.74tr. However, the external debt was calculated at the exchange rate of Rs261.6 per dollar. The current dollar rate is over Rs287, which is a record.

The government’s domestic borrowings were dominated by long-term Pakis­tan Investment Bonds posting a 20pc rise to Rs21.151tr by end of February from Rs17.687tr in June 2022.

However, short-term borrowing through treasury bills slightly declined to Rs6.294tr in July-February from Rs6.752tr in June 2022.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2023