Govt’s debt increases by Rs91.44 billion: SBP weekly borrowing report

WEB DESK: The Pakistani government has added Rs91.44 billion to its debt during the week ending 19 July 2024, bringing the total net borrowing for the fiscal year 2025 to Rs120.58 billion, according to the State Bank of Pakistan’s latest weekly report.

Borrowings are categorised into three main areas: budgetary support, commodity operations, and others.

This week, the net borrowing for budgetary support amounted to Rs184.9 billion, while Rs93.42 billion was allocated for the retirement of commodity operations. Additionally, Rs35.87 million was allocated for other purposes.

For the current fiscal year 2025, the cumulative figures are as follows: Rs92.92 billion for budgetary support, Rs212.58 billion for the retirement of commodity operations, and Rs0.92 billion for other expenses.

According to Mettis Global, the primary sources of financing for budgetary support are the State Bank of Pakistan and Scheduled Banks. To date, the government has borrowed a net total of Rs345.07 billion from the central bank.

Of this amount, the Federal Government borrowed Rs381.76 billion, while the Provincial Government repaid Rs34.43 billion, the AJK Government repaid Rs2.11 billion, and the GB Government repaid Rs0.15 billion.

In contrast, Scheduled Banks have provided a net total of Rs252.15 billion. The Federal Government accounted for Rs252.15 billion of this total, with the Provincial Government making no repayments.

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