Govt’s debt grows by Rs324.4 billion in a week

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s borrowing continues to rise, with the government taking on an additional Rs324.42 billion in debt during the week ending March 14, 2025, as reported by the central bank. This has pushed the total debt for the fiscal year to nearly Rs295 billion so far.

The borrowed money is mainly used to manage day-to-day expenses (budgetary support), and other operations like handling commodities. Of the recent Rs324 billion borrowed, most—Rs353.82 billion—was directed towards budgetary support.

However, at the same time, the government paid off Rs28.2 billion in loans related to commodity operations and cleared Rs1.2 billion in miscellaneous repayments.

Since the start of this fiscal year, the government’s total borrowing for budgetary support has reached a whopping Rs599.37 billion, while repayments for commodity operations stand at Rs303.63 billion.

A key part of this borrowing comes from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and scheduled banks. While the government has paid back Rs464.65 billion to the SBP this year, it has also borrowed heavily from scheduled banks—over Rs1 trillion so far.

The federal government borrowed Rs1.27 trillion from these banks, while the provinces repaid Rs206.25 billion.

This continuous borrowing highlights the government’s ongoing struggle to balance the budget and manage its expenses during this fiscal year.

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