External debt to the country’s private sector declined in the past fiscal year (FY20) mainly due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
Statistics available with Bangladesh Bank showed that outstanding stock of the private sector external debt dropped to US$14.08 billion at the end of June this year from $14.21 billion at the end of June 2019.
Thus, external debt in net term declined by $115.60 million in the past fiscal year.
Bangladesh Bank statistics also showed that short-term external debt in the private sector declined by $388.30 million during the period under review while the long-term external debt increased by $272.70 million.
Among the long-term debt, commercial borrowing increased by 23.40 per cent in the last fiscal year. It was around 23 per cent of the total external debt of the private sector in FY20.
Suppliers credit, having a very small share of below 2.0 per cent of the total debt basket, increased by around 7.60 per cent.
Borrowing through multilateral, bilateral, and other sources declined during the year under review.
