Pakistan’s Public Debt Jumps Over Rs. 65 Trillion

The total public debt stock of the federal government increased by 27 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in December 2023 as compared to the same period in 2022. According to the monthly data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the debt stock increased to Rs. 65.1 trillion in December 2023 compared to Rs. 51 trillion in December 2022, an increase of Rs. 14.1 trillion. On a month-on-month basis, the total public debt stock of the federal government increased by 2.8 percent from Rs. 63.3 trillion recorded in November 2023. The data shows that the domestic debt of the central government increased by 28.4 percent from Rs. 33.17 trillion in December 2022 to Rs. 42.58 trillion in December 2023. Out of total domestic debt, the long-term public debt increased from Rs. 26.9 trillion to Rs. 34 trillion and the stock of short-term debt increased from Rs. 6.15 trillion to Rs. 8.37 trillion in December 2023.