Pakistan’s Debt Stocks Increased by 12% From June 2020 to May 2021

Pakistan’s total debt (domestic and external) stocks had reached Rs. 37.99 trillion by the end of May 2021 as compared to Rs. 35.107 trillion in June 2020, as shown by the data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). This is an increase of eight percent (Rs. 2.89 trillion) recorded during the first eleven months of the last fiscal year (FY21) that had come primarily due to high fiscal imbalance, the SBP said. ALSO READ Govt To Welcome Competitive Bidding For New Oil and Gas Exploration Sites: Energy Minister The highest contribution to this increase had come from the domestic debt that had increased by 12 percent from Rs. 23.282 trillion in June 2020 to Rs. 26.065 trillion in May 2021. This shows an increase of Rs. 2.783 trillion in the eleven months of the previous fiscal year. The increase in the domestic debt may also be explained by the fact the Foreign Exchange Bearer Certificates, the Foreign Currency Bearer Certificates, the Dollar Bearer Certificates, and the Special US Dollar Bonds that are held by residents used to be the part of the external debt liabilities but have been classified as domestic debt since 8 June. Of the total domestic debt, Rs. 19.738 trillion consists of long-term debt and the remaining Rs. 6.66 trillion is short-term debt. ALSO READ FBR Launches Tax Recovery Drive Against Cooperative Housing Societies The external debt of the federal government also increased by one percent from Rs. 11.825 trillion in June 2020 to Rs. 11.932 trillion in May 2021. The SBP elaborated that the total domestic debt stocks include permanent debt, unfunded debt, and floating debt.