Yunus-Tarique Government Sets Record for Bank Borrowing, Reaching Tk165,538 Crore

❐ Staff Reporter

With revenue collection falling short of targets and operating expenses rising, the government has taken a record amount of loans from the country’s banking system in the last fiscal year. This record was set during the Yunus interim government and the current Tariq government.

According to the latest statistics from Bangladesh Bank, the amount of government loans taken from the banking sector during this period stood at Tk 1,65,538 crore.

In the previous fiscal year, the amount of loans taken from the banking sector was Tk 62,221 crore.

According to estimates, the amount of loans taken by the government from the banking sector has increased by 1 lakh 3 thousand crore taka in the space of one year.

According to the Bangladesh Bank report, extensive loans have been taken not only from banks but also from various domestic and foreign sources to meet the budget deficit. As a result, the total amount of debt collected by the government in the last fiscal year stood at Tk 222,000 crore.

In the previous fiscal year, the total debt collected was a little over Tk 1,78,000 crore. Accordingly, the total debt has increased by Tk 44,000 crore or about 25 percent in the space of one year.

On the other hand, the government has also borrowed Tk 57,743 crore from other foreign and non-institutional sources outside the banking system. As a result, the government’s total domestic debt stock within the country has increased to Tk 1,122,270 crore.

The total amount of this huge domestic debt is 18.34 percent of the country’s current gross domestic product (GDP).