According to an annual report by the State Bank of Pakistan, under the PTI government, the debt was increasing at an average pace of Rs14 billion per day.
On a year-on-year basis, the central government’s debt grew 15.8 per cent or Rs4.7 trillion due to depreciation of the currency, a steep shortfall in tax revenues, and unforeseen expenditures on coronavirus-related mitigation measures.
Overall, the PTI government has obtained at least Rs10tr in debts, an increase of 44 per cent. According to an Express Tribune report, the total debt was close to Rs24.2tr when Prime Minister Imran Khan took the helm.
According to the central bank report, the central government’s total domestic debt increased from Rs19.8tr in May last year to Rs23.5 trillion in May 2020, a net addition of Rs3.74tr or 18.9pc.
The report showed that a major increase in the federal government’s debt was on account of long-term debt, which increased from Rs8tr to Rs17.5tr. There was an increase of Rs9.6 trillion or 120pc in the long-term debt.