Total public debt is 26 trillion 69 billion, 66 billion 93 billion additional burden on public debt due to the increase in the value of the US dollar.
What you should know
In the last fiscal year 2081/82, 2 trillion 31 billion 8 crores of public debt has been added. With this, the total public debt has reached 26 trillion 69 billion rupees, according to the Public Debt Management Office. As of June 2081, the outstanding public debt of the government was 24 trillion 38 billion 48 billion rupees.
During this period, when the value of the US dollar has fallen compared to the exchange rate of the Nepalese currency, the public debt has been added to the public debt. The report of the Public Debt Management Office last June showed that because the US dollar has been rising continuously in recent months and the prices of other foreign currencies have also increased, the additional liability of public debt is increasing every month.
It is mentioned in the report that from June 2081 to last June, due to the weakening of the Nepali currency, an additional burden of 66.93 billion was added to the outstanding public debt. Compared to the end of June 2081, the Nepalese rupee has depreciated by 2.97 percent against the US dollar in the end of June 2082. Previous year
In the same period till May of last year, the Nepalese Rupee depreciated by 1.66 percent. At the end of May 2082, the purchase exchange rate of one US dollar reached 137.44. At the end of May 2081, the exchange rate was 133.36.
Changes in Nehru's exchange rate with foreign currencies have caused variations in the volume of external debt. If the exchange rate of the dollar falls, Nepal will benefit and if it increases, it will suffer. As compared to the end of June 2079, there was a foreign exchange loss of 59 billion 16 million rupees in the end of June 2080 mostly due to the devaluation of the Nehru against foreign currency. Due to regulatory rate changes, there has been a loss in 4 out of the last 7 financial years and profit in the remaining years.
Likewise, the total outstanding public debt as of last June is 43.71 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The National Statistics Office has predicted that GDP will reach 61 trillion 7 billion rupees in the current financial year. In the total public debt, the share of foreign debt is 52.49 percent and domestic debt is 47.51 percent by the end of June. According to the
office, the government collected 4 trillion 55 billion 49 billion rupees in public debt last year. The public debt collected last year is 83.25 percent of the annual target. During that period, the realization of internal debt is 3 trillion 29 billion 99 crores (100 percent of the annual target) and external debt is 1 trillion 25 billion 39 billion (57.79 percent of the annual target). This year, the government has set a target of raising public debt of 5 trillion 47 billion rupees. The report of the Public Debt Management Office has shown that although the receipt of internal debt is high, the external debt is very low.
"If the work is done according to the agreement, the receipt of external loan will be more, if not, no more loan will be received," said a Public Debt Management Office source, "If the Nepal Electricity Authority, Nepal Civil Aviation Authority and other agencies complete their work on time, the external loan will be more, if not, they will not receive according to the target." This is 90.01 percent of the annual target. Out of this, 3 trillion 4 billion 19 crores (90.28 percent) were spent for the principal and interest of internal loans and 58 billion 40 crores (88.62 percent) were spent on the principal and interest of external loans. In the last financial year, the government has allocated 4 trillion 2 billion 85 crore rupees for debt servicing expenses. Out of which 3 trillion 62 billion 59 crore rupees have been paid.
Looking at the public debt owed by the government till the end of the last financial year, it is now equal to 91 thousand 7 rupees for every Nepali. According to the National Census 2078 of the National Statistics Office, the population of Nepal is 291 million 64 thousand 578. This figure was calculated by dividing the outstanding public debt by this population until last June.
Economists say that ever-increasing public debt poses risks. From the financial year 2080/81 to last year, allocations under the heading of financial management have exceeded the size of capital expenditure. They say that this is a product of continuous increase in internal and external debt. As the gap between the level of capital expenditure and the budget allocated for the financial system widens with increasing debt repayment obligations, there is a risk of shrinking the government's ability to invest in the future. Economists say that there is also a risk of financial imbalance as a result. However, in the current financial year, the amount allocated for capital expenditure is more than the budget allocated by the government under the heading of financial management.
