Govt debt drastically lowered to 58.7% of GDP from Covid peak of 61.6%: FM

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said in Rajya Sabha that the government has been careful about the Centre's borrowings and liabilities. During her reply to the discussion on supplementary demand for grants, Sitharaman said the outstanding debt of the central government has actually been coming down since 2013-14 till the country was hit by Covid-19. "In 2013-14, as a percentage of GDP, it was 51%. In FY15, it came down to 50.10%, and 49% in 2018-19," she said. "But post Covid, the central government debt went up to 52.4% and 61.6%, and was drastically brought down to 58.7%. It is coming down even as we speak. We have been careful about the borrowings and liabilities of the central government," said Sitharaman.