Nepal's public debt soars to Rs 2,400bn, accounts for over 42 pc of GDP

KATHMANDU: Nepal's outstanding public debt has risen to nearly Rs 2,400 billion. The Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) reports that the public debt has seen an increase of Rs 98 billion in the last 10 months of the current fiscal year alone.

At the start of the current fiscal year, the public debt was at Rs 2,299 billion. The PDMO added that the public debt now accounts for 42.02% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

The previous month, Baisakh (April 13 to May 13), saw a rise of Rs 11.64 billion in the public debt.

Of the total debt, internal debt makes up 20.76% of the GDP, while foreign debt constitutes 21.26%.

The PDMO's updated report mentioned that the government collected a total loan of Rs 264.63 billion until the end of Baisakh (May 13), while it managed to pay off Rs 166.55 billion of the principal in the same period.

Similarly, of the total loan recovery, the internal loan constitutes Rs 191 billion, while the foreign loan accounts for Rs 73.63 billion.