නිදහස් හා විවෘත ප්රවේශය
රාජ්ය මූල්ය දත්ත හා විශ්ලේෂණයන් සඳහා
Sri Lanka’s public debt rose at a slower pace in the first three quarters of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Whilst domestic debt and foreign increased, the growth was notably lower than in the previous year.
By September 2024, Sri Lanka’s domestic debt stock, including all publicly guaranteed local currency debt, increased by LKR 0.8 trillion. It rose from LKR 17.7 trillion at the start of 2024 to LKR 18.5 trillion in September. In comparison, during the first of three quarters of 2023, domestic debt climbed by LKR 2 trillion, growing from LKR 15.2 trillion in January to LKR 17.2 trillion by September 2023.
Foreign debt, covering bilateral, multilateral, commercial, and foreign currency denominated publicly guaranteed loans, increased by USD 0.3 billion from USD 41.5 billion at the start of 2024 to USD 41.8 billion in September. In the first three quarters of 2023, foreign debt rose by USD 0.4 billion. The last quarter of 2023 saw a significant increase of USD 2.6 billion due to a Special Swap agreement in October between the Reserve Bank of India and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
This slowdown in debt growth may be attributed to improved fiscal balances. The 2024 budget aims to reduce the budget deficit from 8.3% to 7.6% of GDP, and revenue collection has surpassed expectations, reducing the government’s reliance on borrowing.
Note:
The public debt figures include central government and all publicly guaranteed debt as reported in the September 2024 Debt Bulletin. However, the government’s definition of public debt has varied. For example, the September 2023 figure included all central bank liabilities, not solely guaranteed ones. This contrasts with the World Bank and IMF approach, which encompasses all government levels, the central bank, state-owned enterprises, public corporations, and all autonomous public bodies without being restricted to guaranteed debt alone.
For this infographic, publicly guaranteed local currency debt has been added to domestic debt, and publicly guaranteed foreign currency debt has been added to foreign debt.
The domestic debt figures were initially reported in USD and subsequently converted to LKR using the following exchange rates: LKR 363.11 (Dec 2022), LKR 324.4 (September 2023), LKR 323.92 (Dec 2023) and LKR 299.4 (September 2024).
The Special Swap agreement combines the previously held Asian Clearing Union (ACU) and SAARCFINANCE Bilateral Currency Swap Framework liabilities into a government guaranteed Swap agreement.
Sources
Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka 'The Quarterly Debt Bulletin 2024 | Third Quarter' at https://www.treasury.gov.lk/api/file/074fd553-ba3a-4e8f-852b-da50c4569800 [last accessed 18 December 2024].
Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka 'The Quarterly Debt Bulletin 2024 | Second Quarter' at https://www.treasury.gov.lk/api/file/1f0bf050-f038-4bcf-8781-c366acc251b4 [last accessed 18 December 2024].
Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka 'Debt Bulletin -2024 First Quarter' at https://www.treasury.gov.lk/news/article/264 [last accessed 18 December 2024].
Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka 'Quarterly Debt Bulletin - as of the end of December 2023' at https://www.treasury.gov.lk/news/article/248 [last accessed 18 December 2024].
Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka 'Quarterly Debt Bulletin - as of the end of September 2023' at https://www.treasury.gov.lk/news/article/235 [last accessed 18 December 2024].
Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka 'Quarterly Debt Bulletin - as of the end of June 2023' at https://www.treasury.gov.lk/news/article/220 [last accessed 18 December 2024].
Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka 'Quarterly Debt Bulletin as of March 2023' at https://www.treasury.gov.lk/news/article/200 [last accessed 18 December 2024].
Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka 'Public Debt Summary - As at end 2022' at https://www.treasury.gov.lk/news/article/184 [last accessed 18 December 2024].
Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Sri Lanka, 'News', at https://www.treasury.gov.lk/news [last accessed 7 November 2024].
International Monetary Fund (IMF) 'Sri Lanka: 2024 Article IV Consultation and Second Review Under the Extended Fund Facility Arrangement' 13 June 2024 at https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2024/06/13/Sri-Lanka-2024-Article-IV-Consultation-and-Second-Review-Under-the-Extended-Fund-Facility-550261 [last accessed 18 December 2024].
World Bank IDS 2023: Data Sources and Methodology (2023) at https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/6e72b0ded996306fa01f5db7a0c38b19-0050052021/related/IDS-2023-Data-Sources-and-Methodology-FINAL.pdf [last accessed 18 December 2024].
Research by: Emaad Rizwan and Anushan Kapilan
Visualisation By: Sadini Galhena
