INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, JUNE 21Nepal's public debt liability has exceeded Rs 2173 billion.
Economies in limbo: Debt restructuring must happen
faster
As per the statistic presented by the
Public Debt Management Office, Nepal has been obliged to pay its public debt amounting over Rs 1099 billion 720 million towards internal
debt and over Rs 1073 billion 520 million towards external debt as of May 15 of the current fiscal year 2023/24.This statistics was unveiled
at a time when issues were being raised in the parliament that the deficit budget is introduce, the public debt would continue increasing
and thereby further increasing the burden of obligation to pay the principle and interest in the annual budget of the government.
The government has set a target of collecting additional Rs 452.75 billion of loan to meet the budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal
year out of which Rs 240 billion is aimed to be collected through internal and Rs 212.75 billion through external loans.Nepal public debt
liability was Rs 2013 billion 296 million 640 thousand until mid-July last year when the current fiscal year 2023/24 had begun.Public debt
amounting to Rs 159 billion 950 million and 800 thousand was added to the country's debt portfolio in the last 11 months of the current
fiscal year.Similarly, the ratio of public debt in the GDP appeared to be Rs 44.79 per cent while considering Nepal's Gross Domestic
Production (GDP) as Rs 4851 billion 620 million.Parliamentarians have been raising the issue in the parliament that the increasing ratio of
the public debt to the GDP and the low capital formation was weakening the economic growth rate in the country and thereby spurring the
likelihood of economic crisis in the country in coming days.According to the Public Debt Management Office, the government has raised the
public debt of Rs 300.06 billion in the last 11 months of the current fiscal year while it has paid principal interest amounting to Rs 205
billion 170 million in the corresponding period.As of May 15 of the current fiscal year, the government spending in the repayment of
principal and interest of public debt exceeded the capital expenditure by around Rs 52.08 billion
The government has spent Rs 153 billion 80 million as a capital expenditure in the corresponding period.This way, when the revenue
collection of the government has hit a low, budget deficit was being met by rising loans the low/dismal revenue collection
On the other hand, as the principle and interest of the loans were increasing every year, a large part of the annual budget was being
spending on it.As per the latest census unveiled by the Central Bureau of Statistic in 2021, the total population of Nepal is 29,164,778
Comparing the total public debt with the total population, the per capita debt comes to be Rs 74,516.
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com
