By Our ReporterNepal’s public debt has reached another milestone, though not one worth celebrating. Outstanding public debt now stands at nearly Rs 2.974 trillion, or 45.07 percent of gross domestic product. Loans are secured, interest begins accumulating, but projects fail to generate the economic returns that justified the borrowing in the first place. The government secured far less foreign borrowing than planned and instead relied heavily on domestic borrowing to finance its fiscal needs. Nepal has already experienced this pressure through exchange rate adjustments that pushed total public debt even higher.