Government achieves external loan, less than 50 percent of target

Kathmandu, June 22: The federal government has received Rs 99.20 billion in external loans in foreign assistance during the first 11 months of current fiscal year which is less than half of its target of Rs 217 billion.

According to a report published by the Public Debt Management Office, the foreign loans received as of mid-June amount to just 45.72 percent of the target. In contrast, internal debt mobilization is on track to meet its goal, with 95.45 percent (around Rs 315 billion) of Rs 330 billion target already achieved.

Most of the foreign loans have been categorized under capital expenditure, serving as a source for funding development projects. However, the slowdown in development activities has hindered the inflow of these external loans, said Gopi Krishna Koirala, Chief of the Public Debt Management Office.

He added that donor agencies largely provide financial assistance to Nepal in the form of project-based loans rather than direct budgetary support. As a result, the delayed or poor implementation of projects significantly impacts the receipt of funds. Overall, weak development expenditure has led to a decline in external loan inflows.

According to the Office of the Auditor General, as of Saturday evening, the annual capital expenditure has only reached about 42 percent of its target.

Total government debt stands at Rs 2,654 billion

Meanwhile, the Public Debt Management Office stated that the total debt that the government has yet to repay is Rs 2, 654 billion. At the beginning of the current fiscal year, the total public debt was Rs 2434.9 billion, and by the end of last May, an additional Rs 220.58 billion of government debt was added.

As of the end of last May, the total public debt is 43.47 percent of the country’s total gross domestic product. Furthermore, the share of foreign debt in the remaining debt that the government has to repay is 52.0 percent, while the share of domestic debt is 47.94 percent.

According to the data as of mid-June the internal debt is Rs 1272.53 billion and the external debt is Rs 1382.12 billion. The government had set a target to mobilize Rs. 5.47 billion in public debt for the current fiscal year. As of the end of last mid-June, Rs 414 billion has been collected in debt.

As of June 14, the total public debt is 43.47 percent of the country’s total gross domestic product. Similarly, so far the government has yet to receive a total loan of 52 per cent in foreign debt, while the share of domestic debt stands at 47.94 per cent.

The government had set a target to mobilize public debt of 547 billion through active means.As of mid-June, the government has raised a loan of 14.19 billion. The total public debt collection as a percentage of the annual target is 75.72 percent. For the payment of the principal and interest on government debt, Rs 329.6 billion has been spent in the last 11 months, it is stated.