Govt’s net bank borrowing rising slowly

The amount of net bank loans of the government in the first five months of the current fiscal year (FY21) is much lower compared to that of the same period a year ago, even though the amount of borrowing is increasing slowly.

In the July-October period of the current fiscal, the government's net bank debt was Tk1,63 crore. In July-November, the amount rose to around Tk3,125 crore.

The net debt of the government in July-November last year was Tk40,646 crore.

The government borrows heavily to implement the Annual Development Programme (ADP). As the progress of ADP implementation has been slow amid the current novel coronavirus situation, pressure on government expenditure in this area is less now.

In July-November of the current financial year, the ADP implementation was about 18% or Tk38,473 crore, which was 19.24% or Tk41,386 crore during the same period of last fiscal.

The combined net debt – including banking and non-banking sectors – of the government in July-November this year was about Tk24,000 crore, which is less than half of that of the same period last fiscal.

Outside the banking system, most loans have been taken from savings certificates in July-November this fiscal.

The sales volume of savings certificates in these five months was Tk19,000 crore. The government has a target of borrowing Tk20,000 crore from the sector in the entire financial year.

Even though the government does not want, sales of savings certificates have increased as interest rates on bank deposits have come down. To discourage the purchase of savings certificates, the government has set a new investment limit and started to implement it.

The five-year Bangladesh Sanchayapatra, the Three-Month Profit-Based Sanchayapatra and the Poribar Sanchayapatra will have a combined investment ceiling of Tk50 lakh in a single name or Tk1 crore in a joint name.