NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Central government debt declined by nearly $18 million since the end of June, according to recent data released by the Ministry of Finance.
The Debt Management Office in its first quarter statical report for the fiscal year 2022/2023 reported that the Central Government’s debt stock was $10.7 billion at end-September 2022—a decline of $17.8 million from end-June 2022 and an annual increment of $688.0 million relative to end-September 2021.
“Consistent with the observed resilience in recent economic conditions, the stock of debt equated to an estimated 86.1 percent of GDP at end-September 2022, a sustained improvement from the peak of 100.9 percent attained at end-June 2021,” the Ministry of Finance noted.
“Outstanding debt of the public sector [central Government and Agencies and Government Business Enterprises (GBEs)] stood at an estimated $12,102.2 million at end-September 2022. This equated to a quarterly decline of $28.8 million (0.2 percent) since end-June 2022, and a year-on-year increase of $673.6 million (5.9 percent) over end-September 2021,” the report noted.
At the end of September, external indebtedness was estimated at $4.9 billion. Since the end of June 2022, there was a $23.4 million decline in the outstanding stock, which compares with a net increase of $621.2 million from end-September 2021 when the share was comparatively lower at 43.2 percent. Outstanding domestic debt settled at $5.8 billion at end-September 2022—the equivalent of a stable 53.8 percent of the overall debt relative to the end-June 2022 position. By comparison, the exposure represented a net gain of $66.8 million over the end-September 2021 level.
