Govt settles Rs413 billion debt, total FY25 retirement hits Rs2.09 trillion

ISLAMABAD: The government has cleared a debt of Rs413.23 billion in the week ending on November 22, according to figures from the State Bank of Pakistan.

This recent debt repayment brings the government’s total net debt retirement for the ongoing fiscal year to Rs2.09 trillion.

For those unaware, government borrowing is usually categorised into three key areas: budgetary support, commodity operations, and other expenses.

During the latest week, the largest chunk of repayment was directed towards budgetary support accounting for Rs413.21 billion of the total sum, while no changes were noted in the commodity operations category.

Additionally, a smaller amount of Rs17.14 million was retired under the ‘others’ category during this period.

According to Mettis Global, for the ongoing fiscal year, cumulative debt repayment stands at Rs1.88 trillion for budgetary support, Rs209.93 billion for commodity operations, and Rs2.12 billion for other expenses.

When it comes to the sources of financing for budgetary support, the two main avenues are the State Bank of Pakistan and scheduled banks. In the ongoing fiscal year, the government has settled a net total of Rs192.04 billion owed to the central bank.

This includes borrowings and repayments made by various levels of government. The federal government borrowed Rs263.63 billion, while the provincial government paid back Rs430.26 billion.

Additionally, the Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) government cleared Rs23.01 billion in debt, and the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) government retired Rs2.4 billion.

In addition, the government has cleared Rs1.69 trillion in debt to scheduled banks, with Rs1.59 trillion repaid by the federal government and Rs98.44 billion by the provincial government.

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