AG puts Govt. debt at 83% as against CB’s 79%

The country’s public debt has been stated as 83% of GDP by the Auditor General’s Department as against the 79.3% figure announced by the Central Bank’s 2016 Annual Report, reflecting a four percentage point difference. 

In his qualified opinion on the Finance Ministry’s 2016 Annual Report, the Auditor General H.M. Gamini Wijesinghe has said according to the financial statements for 2016 the total liabilities as at 31 December 2016 amounted to Rs. 9,864,512 million and that as compared with the estimated Gross Domestic Product of 2016 amounting to Rs. 11,839,000 million represented 83.3%.

In its 2016 Annual Report, the Central Bank said as at the end of 2016, the Government debt to GDP ratio increased to 79.3% from 77.6% recorded at the end of 2015. The provisional figure of Government debt was stated as Rs. 9,387,303.