Islamabad: In an alarming development, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government raised public debt by Rs 18.5 trillion in just 15 months, more than what its arch-rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf had accumulated in its three years. It was more. – A period of one and a half years, the statement of the Central Bank shows.
According to the monthly debt bulletin of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), gross public debt increased from Rs 44.4 trillion in March 2022 to Rs 62.9 trillion by the end of the financial year 2022-23. In a short period of just 15 months, the debt increased at a rate of 41.7 percent because there was no credible strategy to control it. As a result, the federal government’s debt, which is the direct responsibility of the finance ministry, reached Rs 60.8 trillion by the end of June 2023. 18 trillion during the one year and three month period of PDM. According to the debt bulletin released by the government on Wednesday.
Public debt is growing at an unsustainable pace due to potential revenue collection from sectors such as real estate, services and agriculture and a sinking rupee against the dollar.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government increased public debt by Rs 18.1 trillion during its 44-month tenure, which was surpassed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s administration in just 15 months. Credit data for July has not yet been compiled by the central bank.
The speed at which public debt is increasing can be estimated from the fact that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have accumulated 18 trillion in debt stock from 2008 to 2018. Added Rs.
Imran Khan’s government added another Rs 18 trillion from August 2018 to March 2022. And now the PDM government added Rs 18.5 trillion in just 15 months.
From September 1, 2018 to the end of March 2022, the PTI government increased public debt by an average of Rs 14.5 billion per day, double the average increase of Rs 5.6 billion per day under the PML-N.
Now, the PDM government has added an average of Rs 41 billion to the debt stock every day. When the PTI government ended, the total public debt was 44.4 trillion rupees, which was 83.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) before the economic recovery. After rebasing, public debt declined by 15% of GDP but did not decline in absolute terms.
