Govt’s bank borrowing increases Tk2,484cr in Jul-Jan

The government's net bank borrowing in the first seven months of the current fiscal year has increased by Tk2,484 crore, reaching Tk12,681 crore, although its development expenditure has not escalated that much.

The government has borrowed Tk12,681 crore in the July-January period of the fiscal 2021-22 which is 16.58% of the total loan target for this financial year.

The amount of the total bank borrowing in the first seven months in FY21 was Tk10,197 crore.

The government is mostly spending this borrowed money in debt servicing of the local commercial banks.

The total balance amount of the net loan until January this year stands at over Tk2.15 lakh crore.

The balance was over Tk2.21 lakh crore in June last fiscal year.

The government has a target to borrow Tk76,452 crore from the banking system in the current fiscal year to meet the budget deficit.

According to data of the Bangladesh Bank, the government borrowed Tk27,154 crore from commercial banks during July-January through treasury bills and auctioning bonds. The government refunded Tk14,473 crore to the Bangladesh Bank. As a result, its total net loan from the banking system stood at Tk12,681 crore.

There is no data on borrowing from savings certificates in January available.

But it was learnt from other sources that the government's loan in this segment stood at Tk9,590 crore in July-December.

As there was a lockdown in the country due to the impact of Covid last year, development activities were slow and the expenditure was also very low. That is why the government took only Tk26,000 crore from the banking system.

The government spent Tk44,061 crore in the July-November period of FY2021-22 for implementing the annual development programme which was Tk38,472 crore the previous year.