According to a report in Express Tribune, the debt would equal 80 percent of the total debt piled in the past 71 years.
The public debt at the end of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s term was Rs24.2 trillion, and is projected to rise to Rs43.5 trillion by 2022-2023.
In figures shared by the Ministry of Finance with the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, there would be an increase of Rs19.3 trillion in the public debt.
The actual debt is likely to be higher as the Ministry of Finance’s figures are based on very conservative estimates of budget deficit and debt servicing cost.
The Ministry of Finance has based its projections on the framework agreed with the International Monetary Fund, and does not include the IMF funding for support of balance of payments.
The first year of PTI’s term added Rs7.6 trillion to the public debt, bringing the total public debt to Rs31.8 trillion by the end of June 2019.
According to the Finance Ministry, the increase in debt in the first year is largely due to the budget deficit, with 26 percent of the increase resulting from currency devaluation.
Before coming to power, Prime Minister Imran Khan had been severely critical of the economic policies of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, arguing that both parties were responsible for the extreme amounts of public debt.