Government borrowing from the banking system is rising rapidly, with three months still remaining in the 2025-26 fiscal year. The government has already exceeded its annual borrowing target from banks.
The borrowing target was set at Tk 1,04,000 crore for the fiscal year, but government borrowing reached Tk 1,06,051 crore as of March 30. The government's total outstanding debt in the banking system now stands at Tk 6,56,956 crore.
Stakeholders said the government sets annual borrowing targets to finance the budget deficit. This year, expenditure has increased due to various factors, including the war, while revenue growth has lagged behind. At the same time, expected foreign loans have not materialised. As a result, special auctions of treasury bills and bonds are being held outside the regular auction calendar to meet the government's financing needs.
The government borrowed Tk 5,000 crore on April 1 by calling a special auction. A special auction was called for another Tk 5,000 crore on Wednesday, April 8. As a result, it is not possible to say where the loan will end up this time. In the original budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, the government had set a target of Tk 1,37,500 crore of loans from the banking system. However, in the revised budget, the target of Tk 99,000 crore was set. In the end, the government took Tk 72,372 crore.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, out of the loans taken so far in the current fiscal year, Bangladesh Bank has provided Tk 32,193 crore. This has increased the government's loan balance in Bangladesh Bank to Tk 1,30,616 crore. And the government has taken Tk 73,858 crore from commercial banks in 9 months. This has brought the loan balance to Tk 5,26,339 crore. The government's loan demand was low at the beginning of the current fiscal year as well. Until last October, repayments were Tk 503 crore more than the government's loan from the banking system.
