During the last 15 months, there is a 40% increase in Pakistan’s public debt, the government is planning on borrowing more Rs. 1.9 trillion for financing for its fascial deficit.
The information was provided by the Ministry of Finance as a result of the question asked by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Afzal Khokhar in the National Assembly. Furthermore, the statement brought up one week after the government approved major violations of the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Act for excessively increasing debt acquisition limits.
As per the official data released by the Finance Ministry, the total debt and liabilities reached almost Rs. 29.879 trillion at the end of 2018 which exceeded Rs 41.489 trillion at the end of September 2019, showing inflation of 39%. Whereas, at the end of 2019, debt and liabilities were increased by 35% i.e. Rs 10.344 trillion.
Responding to the question of Afzal Khokhar, the Finance Ministry stated, “The government borrowing is also required for the resource-intensive infrastructure projects which facilitate economic growth and allow achieving social development goals.”
The ministry also informed the National Assembly that the government is intended to borrow Rs 1.1 trillion from external sources and Rs 0.8 trillion from domestic sources. Furthermore, the government had taken loans worth Rs 71 billion against Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway and $2 billion against two portions of the Islamabad-Lahore Motorway.
