Nepal's Public Debt Quadruples in a Decade

Nepal's public debt has grown more than four times in the last ten years.

The country borrowed a lot of money to deal with the 2015 earthquake and the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the end of the fiscal year 2025-26, Nepal's public debt was NPR 2.974 trillion, up from NPR 697.68 billion in 2016-17.

Most of the debt is from external sources, but domestic debt is also significant.

The debt-to-GDP ratio has increased but is still lower than during the civil war.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Nepal's debt is sustainable, but there are concerns about the growing cost of servicing domestic debt.

Nepal plans to borrow more in the current fiscal year to repay existing debts.