KATHMANDU: Nepal’s public debt has risen by Rs 50.6 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2025/26, according to the Public Debt Management Office.

By the end of the last fiscal year (mid-July 2025), the government’s total debt stood at Rs 2.674 trillion. As of mid-October 2025, it reached Rs 2.724 trillion.

The outstanding public debt now accounts for 44.61 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Out of the total debt as of mid-October, external loans make up 53.09 percent (Rs 1.446 trillion), while domestic loans account for 46.91 percent (Rs 1.278 trillion).

For the current fiscal year, the government has targeted to mobilize Rs 595 billion in public borrowing. In the first quarter, it has already received Rs 100.84 billion, which represents 16.93 percent of the annual target.

Domestically, the government aims to raise Rs 362 billion in loans this fiscal year. By mid-October, Rs 90 billion, or 24.86 percent of the annual target, had been collected.

Externally, the target is to secure Rs 233.66 billion in foreign loans. So far, only Rs 1.84 billion, equivalent to 4.65 percent of the annual goal, has been raised.

The government has allocated Rs 411.01 billion in the current fiscal year’s budget for debt servicing (principal and interest).

Of this, Rs 109.89 billion has been paid by mid-October— equivalent to 26.74 percent of the total annual allocation.

Based on GDP, the total debt servicing cost as of mid-October accounts for 1.80 percent of Nepal’s GDP.