The Government of Tajikistan has ordered the Ministry of Finance to issue securities in a form of bills of exchange in a total amount of 1 billion somonis (equivalent to 88.4 million U.S. dollars)
A decree adopted by the Government on April 3 notes that the issue of these securities is carried out in order to regulate the country’s public debt.
Ten-year bills at a 2-percent are reportedly intended for circulation in the domestic securities market, that is, for sale sales within the country.
According to data from the Ministry of Finance, Tajikistan’s public debt reached 3.7 billion U.S. dollars by January 1, which is equal to 46.8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Public debt can be raised both externally and internally, where external debt is the debt owed to lenders outside the country and internal debt represents the government's obligations to domestic lenders.
The external debt accounts for 85 percent (3.2 billion U.S. dollars) of the public debt and the internal debt accounts for 15 percent (500 million U.S. dollars).
The main creditor of Tajikistan is China (about $ 1.2 billion). Debts due to placement of government bonds (Eurobonds) in international financial markets amount to US$500 million. There are also comparatively large debts to the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank and IMF.
Government bills issued for recapitalization of two troubled banks – Agroinvestbonk and Tojiksodirotbonk – reportedly account for more than 40 percent of the country’s internal debt.
