The total public debt in Nepal reached 2,007.84 billion rupees at the end of the first quarter of the fiscal year in October, 2022. Of this, Rs 1050.23 billion is foreign debt and Rs 957.61 billion domestic debt.
During this period, the total outstanding debt of the Government of Nepal decreased by 0.27 percent. External debt increased by 2.37 percent, while internal debt decreased by 3.02 percent. In the first quarter, total internal debt decreased by Rs 29.83 billion and external debt increased by Rs 24.38 billion.
Receipts for payments on external debt totaled Rs 24.70 billion during the quarter, with principal repayment at Rs 5.84 billion. There were no receipts for internal debt during the quarter, and repayment for internal debt amounted to Rs 29.83 billion.
Other factors, such as exchange rate fluctuations, resulted in a foreign exchange loss of Rs 5.52 billion. At the end of first quarter of the fiscal year 2079/80 BS, the total debt to GDP ratio was 41.38 percent, with the external debt to GDP ratio at 21.64 percent and the internal debt to GDP ratio at 19.73 percent.
In the last quarter of the fiscal year 2078/79 BS, the debt to GDP ratio was 41.49 percent, with external debt at 21.14 percent and domestic debt at 20.35 percent. During the first quarter of the fiscal year 2079/80 BS, the total receipt of debt was Rs 24.70 billion, all of which came from external sources.
Of the external debt, 88.78 percent (Rs 21.93 billion) came from multilateral sources and the remaining 11.21 percent (Rs 2.77 billion) came from bilateral sources. No debt was raised from internal sources during the quarter. Rollover of treasury bills (domestic bonds) is not considered new issuance.
In the first quarter of the fiscal year 2079/80 BS, the total debt service was Rs 50.62 billion, with 84.90 percent (Rs 42.98 billion) being internal debt and 15.09 percent (Rs 7.64 billion) being external debt. For capital repayment, Rs 5.84 billion was paid to external creditors and Rs 29.83 billion was paid to internal creditors. The total capital repayment was Rs 35.68 billion. Interest payments totaled Rs 14.94 billion, with Rs 1.79 billion paid to external creditors and Rs 13.15 billion paid to internal creditors. Commitment fees were also paid on external debt and commissions on internal debt.
According to a report from the Debt Management Office dated October 17, 2022, the International Development Association (IDA), a part of the World Bank Group, is Nepal’s largest creditor with Rs 526.01 billion, followed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with Rs 323.65 billion.
Nepal has also received credit facilities from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the amounts of Rs 48.41 billion and Rs 43.90 billion, respectively. The Export-Import Bank of India has provided a loan of Rs 37.60 billion, the Export-Import Bank of China has provided a loan of Rs 33.51 billion, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development has provided a loan of Rs 10.25 billion.
Nepal owes Rs 8.40 billion to the OPEC Fund for International Development, and has debts to the Export-Import Bank of Korea and the European Investment Bank totaling Rs 5.63 billion and Rs 5.62 billion, respectively. The Saudi Arabian Fund is owed Rs 3 billion and the Finnish Nordic Development Fund is owed Rs 1.82 billion. Nepal has maturing debts to Kuwait and Belgium in the amounts of Rs 1.51 billion and Rs 0.60 billion respectively.
The European Economic Council, Natixis (a French bank), and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have debts due of Rs 0.20 billion, Rs 0.10 billion, and Rs 0.04 billion respectively, at the end of the first quarter of the fiscal year 2079/80.
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