The national debt worked out to NT$205,000 (US$6,800) per person as of the end of last month, an increase of NT$8,000 per person from last year, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The national debt, which includes the central government’s long-term and short-term debts, amounted to NT$4.756 trillion as of the end of last month, from NT$4.557 trillion a year ago, the ministry’s data showed.
Government bonds, which refer to outstanding debt with a maturity of more than one year, totaled NT$4.605 trillion last month, up from NT$4.322 trillion a year earlier, the ministry said.
Treasury bills, which represent outstanding short-term debts with a maturity of less than a year, stood at NT$151.6 billion, down from NT$235 billion a year ago.
Compared with the end of October, the national debt was NT$151.6 billion higher as of the end of last month, translating into an increase of NT$1,000 per person, according to the ministry’s data.
The ministry began publishing a monthly Web-based “National Debt Clock” in December last year to remind government agencies to watch their spending.
Last month, Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德) said in a press conference that the nation’s finances remained steady.
“The central government’s long-term debt is still below the statutory debt ceiling of 40 percent,” Lee said.
RSS