In August 2023, the total public debt stock of the federal government witnessed a year-on-year increase of 29 percent compared to the same month in the previous year.

According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the debt stock rose to Rs. 63.996 trillion in August 2023 from Rs. 49.572 trillion in August 2022, marking a substantial increase of Rs. 14.394 trillion.

On a month-on-month basis, the total public debt stock of the federal government increased by Rs. 2.22 trillion, up from Rs. 61.748 trillion recorded in July 2023.

The data further reveals that the domestic debt of the central government grew by 23.8 percent, surging from Rs. 32.153 trillion in August 2022 to Rs. 39.792 trillion in August 2023.

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Within the domestic debt, the long-term public debt increased from Rs. 24.562 trillion to Rs. 30.013 trillion, while the stock of short-term debt increased from Rs. 7.484 trillion to Rs. 9.633 trillion over the past year.

Regarding long-term debt, the government raised Rs. 5.32 trillion through Federal Government Bonds, including Pakistan Investment Bonds and GOP Ijara Sukuk and Bai-Muajjal 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.

The public debt remained constant at Rs. 475 billion in terms of SBP’s on-lending to GOP against SDRs allocation, while unfunded debt decreased to Rs. 2,933 billion from Rs. 3,220 billion. Foreign currency loans surged to Rs. 410 billion from Rs. 9 billion during the same period.

The report also highlights that the external debt of the central government increased to Rs. 24.175 trillion from Rs. 17.419 trillion, marking a substantial 39 percent increase during the period.