Nepal’s sovereign debt exceeds Rs 2.4tn in mid-June 2024: PDMO

KATHMANDU: Nepal's sovereign debt has exceeded Rs 2,400 billion as of mid-June 2024. According to the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO), Nepal is obligated to repay its public debt, which totals Rs 2,400 billion, comprising Rs 1,192.48 billion for internal debt and Rs 1,207.86 billion for external debt as of mid-June 2024.

Until mid-July of the previous year (the start of the current fiscal year 2023/24), Nepal's debt stood at Rs 2,299.35 billion. Over the last 11 months of the current fiscal year, an additional Rs 101 billion in public debt was added to the country's debt portfolio.

Of the total sovereign debt incurred by the country, 49.68% represents internal debt, while 50.32% is external debt.

Similarly, the government owes sovereign debt of over Rs 1,071 billion to multilateral lenders and Rs 136.74 billion to bilateral lenders under external debt.

The highest liability within internal debt is related to development bonds, amounting to Rs 764.94 billion. The liability for Treasury Bills stands at Rs 412.69 billion.

In the current fiscal year, the government had set a target of raising Rs 452.75 billion through loans. Out of this, Rs 240 billion was intended to be collected through internal loans, and Rs 212.75 billion through external loans.

As of mid-May in the current fiscal year, the government has collected Rs 225 billion internally and Rs 82.67 billion externally, achieving 67.96% of the annual target.

Office Chief Dirgha Raj Mainali stated that Rs 145 billion remains to be collected to meet the target amount.

For debt servicing, the government allocated Rs 225.17 billion in the current fiscal year to pay the principal amount of the debts, along with an equal amount to cover interest payments. Of this, Rs 197.32 billion has been paid off as principal, and Rs 31.52 billion as interest, according to the PDMO.

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