July 24: The government’s public debt has exceeded over Rs 2221 billion. According to data released by the Public Debt Management Office, Nepal's public debt has surpassed Rs 2221 billion by the end of the fiscal year 2079/80 BS (2022-23). This amount includes internal loans amounting to over Rs 1,100 billion and external loans worth Rs 1,093 billion.

The public debt witnessed a significant increase of over Rs 200 billion in the last fiscal year alone. At the end of the previous year, the total public debt stood at Rs 2,012 billion.

However, during the last fiscal year, the internal debt rose by Rs 140 billion, while the external loan surged by Rs 675 billion, as reported by the Public Debt Management Office.

Notably, the principal and interest obligations for the public debt have become almost equal to the country's capital expenditure.

In the fiscal year 2022-23, Nepal's capital expenditure amounted to Rs 233 billion and 690 million. During the same period, the government paid a substantial amount of Rs 222 billion 742 million and 100 thousand to service the principal and interest for the public debt.

Out of this sum, Rs 179 billion 725 million and 300 thousand were utilized to service the principal and interest of internal loans, while Rs 43 billion 16 million and 800 thousand were spent on servicing the principal and interest of external loans. (RSS)