DUSHANBE, July 26, 2013, Asia-Plus — In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, the Minister of Finance, Safarali Najmiddinov, noted on July 26 that Tajikistan’s external debt decreased from 2.16941 billion U.S. dollars on January 1, 2013 to 2.132.82 billion U.S. dollars on July 1, 2013.
On the debt-to-GDP ratio, which is one of indicators of the health of an economy, Najmiddinov noted that as of July 1, 2013, Tajikistan external debt-to-GDP ratio was 25.3 percent.
Tajikistan’s largest creditor is China – 891 million U.S. dollars have been provided in preferential loans. “We and the Export-Import Bank of China have come to an agreement that the grace period for payment of these loans will be increased from five to nine years,” Najmiddinov noted.
The government direct debt amounts to 1.93062 billion U.S. dollars, which is 22.9 percent of GDP. The remaining debts include the government guaranteed loans (16 million U.S. dollars) and loans without the guarantee taken by state-run enterprises (31.52 million U.S. dollars). Tajikistan’s debt to the International Financial Corporation, which is serviced by the National Bank of Tajikistan, reportedly amounts to 137.67 million U.S. dollars. A loan attracted by the National Bank of Tajikistan from China amounts to 17 million U.S. dollars.
Reduction has reportedly resulted from debt servicing.
Over the first six months of this year, 56.84 million U.S. dollars have been spent for repayment of the principal sum and some 15.18 million U.S. dollars have been spent for repayment of interest.
In all, the national budget for 2013 earmarked 100.4 million U.S. dollars for repayment of the principal sum and some 33 million U.S. dollars for repayment of interest.
