Govt’s weekly borrowing surges to Rs5.89 trillion

WEB DESK: The Government of Pakistan has added Rs364.64 billion to its debt during the week ending May 31, 2024, bringing the total net borrowing for the current fiscal year to Rs5.89 trillion.

These figures come from the latest weekly estimates released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

This year’s government borrowing has consistently surpassed the levels observed in previous years, reflecting an ongoing trend of increased fiscal demands.

Government borrowings are categorized into three main sectors: budgetary support, commodity operations, and others. In the latest week, the net borrowing for budgetary support stood at Rs350.55 billion, while borrowing for commodity operations was Rs14.08 billion.

An additional Rs6.03 million was borrowed under the “others” category.

Cumulatively, the fiscal year 2024 has seen Rs6.03 trillion borrowed for budgetary support, Rs135.38 billion allocated for the retirement of commodity operations debt, and Rs5.47 billion for other debt retirements.

The primary sources of budgetary support financing are the State Bank of Pakistan and Scheduled Banks. This fiscal year, the government has repaid a net sum of Rs1.08 trillion to the central bank.

This repayment includes Rs699.67 billion from the Federal Government, Rs341.17 billion from Provincial Governments, Rs36.09 billion from the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Government, and Rs5.36 billion from the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Government.

Conversely, Scheduled Banks have provided a net total of Rs7.12 trillion in loans, with the Federal Government borrowing Rs7.38 trillion and Provincial Governments retiring Rs261.27 billion.

This significant increase in borrowing highlights the fiscal challenges faced by the government and underscores the critical role of both domestic and international financial institutions in supporting Pakistan’s economic stability.

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