Public Debt Management Office/File photo.
KATHMANDU: The public debt which was Rs 2.299 trillion in the fiscal year 2079–80 became Rs 2.433 trillion by the end of the fiscal year 2080-81, increasing by Rs 134.6841 billion in a year.
According to the Public Debt Management Office, total public debt increased by Rs 32.8958 billion compared to the previous month of Jestha.
From Shrawan to Ashad of the last fiscal year, an additional Rs 134 billion was added, resulting in the total debt reaching Rs 2.433 trillion.
Currently, the debt stands at 42.65% of Nepal’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is Rs 5.7 trillion.
Government officials argue that debt up to 43 percent of GDP is not considered problematic, while economists caution that exceeding 40 percent is a warning sign for a country like Nepal.
Nepal’s internal debt now stands at Rs 1.1809 trillion, and external debt at Rs 1.25233 trillion.
As of the end of the previous Ashad, internal debt was Rs 1.1291 trillion, and external debt was Rs 1.17024 trillion.
Last fiscal year, the government added NPR 51 billion in internal debt and Rs 82 billion in external debt.
In total, Rs 358.02 billion was borrowed, including Rs 123.6 billion in external and NPR 234.42 billion in internal debt.
The government also repaid Rs 223.34 billion in loans last fiscal year, with Rs 182.62 billion in internal debt and Rs 40.72 billion in external debt.
The government had allocated Rs 330 billion for debt servicing in the budget, but due to lower revenue collection, only Rs 305.3771 billion was paid, which is 92 percent of the allocated budget.
The debt service cost is only 5.35 percent of the total GDP.
The government had planned to borrow Rs 452 billion last fiscal year but managed to secure only 79 percent of that target, equivalent to NPR 358.02 billion. Of the total debt, 97.68 percent was domestic, and only 58.10 percent of the target was achieved for external debt, according to the Public Debt Management Office.
Interest payments alone amounted to Rs 112 billion, with Rs 72 billion for internal debt and Rs 40 billion for external debt.
If the total debt is divided by the population, the per capita debt exceeds Rs 83,000, with around NPR 40,500 being internal debt and Rs 48,900 external debt.
However, this debt is borne by the state and does not directly fall on individuals.
According to the National Census 2078 BS, Nepal’s total population is 29,164,578
