Senate question hour: Govt borrowed Rs798.9 bn since June

Rs312 billion raised through State Bank while Rs429.9 billion through commercial banks.

ISLAMABAD: The government raised a total of Rs741.9 billion in domestic debt through the State Bank and commercial banks from June 2013 to February 2014, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar informed the Senate during the Question Hour. He informed that Rs312 billion was raised through the State Bank of Pakistan, while Rs429.9 billion was raised through commercial banks, adding that the present the GDP to debt ratio after the new borrowings stood at 59.1 per cent. On a question about Pakistan'e external debt including that from IMF, Dar responded that it had increased by Rs1.715 trillion. Of this, IMF accounted for Rs154.33 billion, while the value of public and publicly guaranteed debt was Rs1.561 trillion. IMF debt increased by Rs2.72 billion from July 2013. The finance minister further said that foreign debt had increased by Rs57.69 billion from July 2013. Dar also informed that the government has decided to privatise 32 public sector enterprises on priority basis, adding that the Board of the Privatisation Commission had already approved to initiate the phased privatisation process. Meanwhile, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal informed the Senate that work is underway on the Gaddani Power Project and two power projects at Bin Qasim, while work had also started on Thar Coal project, of which one mining and three power projects will start functioning within three years. He added that China has expressed interest in ten power projects at Thar. According to Radio Pakistan, the Minister also informed the Senate that Rs30 billion would be spent on Prime Minister’s programme for provision of laptops to talented students. It is expected that each year 150,000 talented students will be awarded laptops under the five-year programme.