Govt. debt tops Rs. 24 t mark

The Outstanding Government debt has surpassed the Rs. 24 trillion mark in May as per provisional data released by the Central Bank last week.

As at the end of April, debt stood at Rs. 23.3 trillion and a year ago (May 2021), it amounted to Rs. 17.58 trillion. The year on year increase is 36.8% or Rs. 6.47 trillion. 

Provisional data for May has been pending for three months after the April figure was first announced in early July.

Of the Rs. 24 trillion debt, total outstanding domestic debt as at May 2022 amounted to Rs. 12.55 trillion while the rupee value of total outstanding foreign debt was Rs. 11.59 trillion.

CBSL said the debt data for May are highly provisional as the outstanding central Government debt excludes several overdue debt service payments after 12 April 2022, the date of which the Interim Policy regarding the servicing of Sri Lanka’s external public debt was announced by the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies. These debt service payments include overdue interest payments of affected debt which are deemed to be capitalised as per the Interim Policy, it added.

In the presentation to creditors in September, central Government debt was stated as $ 70.3 billion or 106.1% of GDP as at end June 2022 and the public debt was $ 80.5 billion or 121.6% of GDP.

Sri Lanka’s debt has been classified as unsustainable by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which is supporting the Government’s efforts to restructure.