One citizen carries 48,000 debt (Economy)

Thimphu, June 26: Every Bhutanese now bears the external debt of over Nu 48,000 despite the government claims of hopping improvement for national self reliance.

This was revealed when finance minister tabled the budget bill at the National Assembly recently.

This is more than per capita income of the Bhutanese in a year and is 61 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Finance minister projects this debt to rise to 65 percent of the total GDP by the end of 2011, rising the debt amount to Nu 66,000 a head.

According to the finance minister’s report, Bhutan’s external debt outlay at the end of June this year is Nu 31.48 billion.

Additionally, the government’s domestic borrowing by the end of the current fiscal year is estimated at Nu 1.4 billion.

Similarly, there are large borrowings from the World Bank, Denmark and the Asian Development Bank. Bhutan has dues of US$ 94.76 million with the World Bank. Bhutan News Service