Chapter 4 | Page 180 build-up of payment arrears which poses a real threat to long-term sustainability of the debt.188 In relation to financing for the budget deficit, the government had significant difficulty in obtaining funds from external sources so it resorted to financing these requirements through domestic borrowing, mainly through issuance of Treasury-bills (T-bills) and monetisation. Because of the high reliance on T-bills and the narrow market base, the weighted average interest rates for T-bills remained very high, making this form of borrowing extremely expensive for the government and has increased the total outstanding stock.189 The overall public debt, including publicly guaranteed debts, has remained at 78 percent of GDP,190 while T-bill rates of all maturities were over 10 percent by December 2013.191 The government’s approach to deficit financing exacerbated the situation, particularly because of increased monetisation and ad hoc borrowing from the central bank and private sector. Currently, there is overreliance on borrowing from the banking sector to meet domestic financial requirements, mainly because of the absence of any nonbanking finance facilities.192 This has increased stress on the banking sector and it is feared that the private sector is being crowded out of the available credit. At the moment, there is very little by way of a fiscal buffer to absorb the impact of increasing debt and depleting reserves. As a result of weak macroeconomic management, the balance of payment and external reserves remain under considerable pressure. 188 The World Bank, above n 181, 2; Maldives Monetary Authority, above n 176, 20. 189 Maldives Monetary Authority, above n 176, 24. 190 Ibid. 191 Asian Development Bank, Asian Development Outlook 2014- Fiscal Policy for Inclusive Growth: Maldives (ADB, Manila, 2014), <http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/ado2014maldives.pdf>, 175. 192 Asian Development Bank, above n 183.