Debt exceeds legal limit by Rs14.5tr

An official document reveals that the federal government is carrying a debt burden of Rs14.5 trillion above the statutory limit set by Parliament, poorly implementing the debt management strategy. The skewed Debt Policy Statement 2024 from the Ministry of Finance discloses that during the fiscal year 2022-23, the federal government violated the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Act and failed to implement the Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy. The Ministry of Finance is legally obligated to prepare this statement annually, but amidst a rapid deterioration of the country’s debt situation, critical information is being deleted from the report, compromising transparency. The finance ministry, in comparison to the previous statement, has omitted details regarding the review of public debt, analysis of external public debt inflows and outflows, currency movement and revaluation impact, gross financing needs, and recent updates and developments.