Finance ministry says debt to GDP ratio comes down to 83.5pc

According to the statement, both domestic and external debts have depicted a downward trend from last year.

It said, the domestic debt declined to 55.1 percent of GDP from 56 percent last year. Similarly, the external debt to GDP ratio receded to 28.5 percent from 31.6 percent last year.

The statement pertinently mentioned that the best way to evaluate debt trend was through debt to GDP measure.

However, the statement clarified that the debt has increased in line with fiscal deficit.