DUSHANBE, April 26, Asia-Plus – Tajikistan’s foreign debt has grown by $11 million so far this year, First Deputy Finance Minister, Sherali Safarov, remarked at a meeting with journalists Wednesday, April 25.
The debt increased from $866.4 million to $877.4 million as of April 1, according to him. The deputy minister noted that over the first quarter of the year, $10.67 million have been spent to serve and repay the foreign debt. “Of this amount, 7.97 million have gone to repaying the debt and $2.27 million have gone to making interest payments on the debt,” Safarov said, adding that this year’ budget provides for $45 million to serve the country’s foreign debt.
The ministry of finance (MoF) attributed the debt to newly attracted loans.
According to Safarov, the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) remain Tajikistan’s largest creditors. “As of April 1, 41 investment projects for a total amount of 106.6 million somonis have been implemented in the country in cooperation with international financial institutions,” said the deputy minister, “This amount includes loans for 48.6 million somonis, grants for 23.1 million somonis and the government’s share of 34.9 million somonis.”
Safarov told journalists that over the report period, Tajikistan has signed a number of agreements on investment projects, including the project for enhancement of the agrarian sector supported by the ADB grant of $17.1 million, the project for reducing commercial energy losses supported by the grant in the amount of $8 million provided by the Swiss government, and the second phase of the project for irrigation of the Danghara steppe funded by the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development, which provided $13.8 million for implementing this project.
