Rs23,000 debt on each Pakistani added in nine months of PTI rule

ISLAMABAD: Each Pakistani is burdened with an additional debt of almost Rs23,000 during the first nine months of the present fiscal year under the PTI dominated rule.

From 1947 till June last 2018, successive governments of last seventy years had burdened each Pakistani with the total debt of almost Rs136,000. This figure during the first nine months of the present fiscal year has now jumped to around Rs159,000 i.e. an addition of almost Rs23,000 in less than a year time. Contrary to its past rhetoric, the PTI government is adding up in the public debt stock per day more than what the last PML-N and PPP governments had collectively added during their tenures.

Latest State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) figures show that Pakistan’s total debt and liabilities skyrocketed to Rs35,094 trillion till end March 2019. In the first nine months (July-March) period of the current fiscal under the rule of incumbent regime, the total debt and liabilities went up by Rs5 trillion, increasing from Rs29,879 trillion in June 2018 to Rs35,094 trillion till end March 2019. The total debt and liabilities in percentage of GDP have touched 91.2 per cent.

Pakistan’s debt burden is increasing like never before and it is feared that if this trend is not checked, the debt figure may add up during five years of PTI government equal to the accumulated total borrowing of the last seventy years.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has been referring to the figure of Rs30,000 billion debt which had reached to this level in June 2018 from Rs6,691 billion in 2007. The prime minister has recently said that the present bitter economic situation was for the short period of time and after some time it will get better.

The prime minister is of the view that this phenomenal and alarming raise in debt from Rs6,691 billion in 2007 to Rs30,000 in June 2018 is the consequence of alleged corruption by the last PML-N and PPP governments, which ruled the country during this period.

The State Bank of Pakistan latest figures, however, show that the June, 2018, Rs29,879 billion figure has shot up to Rs35,094 till end March 2019. It means in just nine months time an increase of over Rs5,000 billion. And if this debt keeps on increasing with the same pace, five years later when the PTI government will be completing its tenure there will be a total addition of at least Rs30,000 billion taking the total Rs60,000 billion debt.

The State Bank figures relating to the total public debts and liabilities by end June 2013 were Rs16,228 billion. Each Pakistani till September 2013 was burdened with the debt and liabilities of Rs96,422. When the PML-N government left it reached to almost Rs136,000 but now only in nine months’ time it has flown to Rs159,000.

In early 2008 when country’s total debt and liabilities were Rs6,691 billion, each Pakistani was burdened with Rs37,172 debt.