Pakistan's public debt rises by 9.5% from July 2021 to Jan 2022

Pakistan's public debt increased by 9.5pc from July 2021 to January 2022 when the figure was Pakistani Rupees 42.4 trillion, central bank data showed.

As of June 30, 2021, the debt stood at PKR 38.7 trillion, going up by 16 per cent year-on-year. Last year, at the end of January, the debt stood at PKR 35.5 trillion, Pakistani newspaper The News International reported on Wednesday.

The domestic debt stood at PKR 27.4 trillion by the end of January while PKR 26.2 trillion by the end of June last year. External debt was PKR 14.9 trillion in January, and it amounted to PKR 12.4 trillion in June.

The State Bank of Pakistan's data also showed that long-term debt rose to PKR 21.6 trillion at the end of January, compared with PKR 19.5 trillion in June. The short-term debt was PKR 537 trillion, compared with PKR 6.6 trillion by the end of January.

The rise in net borrowing to meet the expenditures, accumulation of foreign reserves and the expenditure during pandemic led the Pakistani government to seek more funds from different countries.

Pakistan plans to raise PKR 4 trillion through the auction of market treasury bills in the March-May period to finance the budget deficit, according to the auction calendar issued by the SBP on the same day.

The government is also set to fetch Rs900 billion from the sale of Pakistan Investment Bonds and Rs300 billion through the auction of variable and fixed rental rates Ijara Sukuk in the period under review, according to The News International.

At around two per cent of GDP, the fiscal deficit during the first half of FY2022 was almost the same as last year.

This data comes at a time when the Pakistani government is already struggling with several challenges and the no-confidence motion move by the opposition.

Pakistan's economic conditions have deteriorated in the past few months. In January, the government slapped PKR 360 billion worth of additional taxes in addition to the commitment with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to increase electricity prices by PKR 2.80 per unit.

A new survey released on Tuesday also revealed that unemployment and inflation are the biggest concern for Pakistanis.