DUSHANBE, July 20, Asia-Plus — An independent commission for defining an exact amount of debt of Tajik cotton farmers to their foreign and domestic creditors is supposed to finish its work in August, Murodali Alimardonov, Chairman of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT), told a news conference in Dushanbe yesterday.
According to him, the commission is also dedicated to establish the cause of these debts that have been formed since 1996. According to the preliminary data, Tajik cotton farmers now owe some $300 million to domestic and foreign creditors.
“After the commission completes its work, we jointly with donors will seek the solution to this problem,” the Tajik central bank head said.
He also noted that the cotton farmers’ debt have resulted economic damage caused by the civil conflict in the Nineties, as a result of which loans provided for cotton growing were used for rehabilitation of infrastructure, as well as falling harvests in recent years.
