In August 2023, the total public debt of the federal government surged by 29 percent compared to the same month in the previous year, according to monthly data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
The debt stock rose to Rs. 63.996 trillion in August 2023, up from Rs. 49.572 trillion in August 2022, marking an increase of Rs. 14.394 trillion. On a month-to-month basis, the federal government's total public debt increased by Rs. 2.22 trillion, rising from Rs. 61.748 trillion in July 2023.
Breaking down the data, the domestic debt of the central government grew by 23.8 percent, reaching Rs. 39.792 trillion in August 2023, up from Rs. 32.153 trillion in August 2022. This includes both long-term public debt, which increased from Rs. 24.562 trillion to Rs. 30.013 trillion, and short-term debt, which rose from Rs. 7.484 trillion to Rs. 9.633 trillion over the past year.
Within the long-term debt category, the government raised Rs. 5.32 trillion through Federal Government Bonds, including Pakistan Investment Bonds and GOP Ijara Sukuk and Bai-Muajjal of Sukuk. The total debt stock of Federal Government Bonds increased from Rs. 20.478 trillion in August 2022 to Rs. 25.810 trillion in August 2023.
Additionally, the government raised Rs. 6 billion through the issuance of Prize Bonds in one year. In terms of SBP's on-lending to the GOP against SDRs allocation, the public debt remained at the same level of Rs. 475 billion. However, the unfunded debt decreased to Rs. 2,933 billion from Rs. 3,220 billion.
Foreign currency loans also saw a significant increase, rising to Rs. 410 billion from Rs. 9 billion during the period. The report highlights that the external debt of the central government increased to Rs. 24.175 trillion from Rs. 17.419 trillion during this period, representing a 39 percent increase.