DUSHANBE, October 26, 2009, Asia-Plus — Due to our new strategy of management of external debt the external debt-to-GDP ratio has decreased in recent years, Deputy Minister of Finance, Jamoliddin Nouraliyev, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
“In 2001, the country’s external debt amounted to more than 100 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), while in 2004, the external debt-to-GDP ratio decreased to 54 percent due to restructuring Tajikistan’s debts to the Russian Federation,” said the deputy minister, “In 2008, the country’s external debt amounted to 26.7 percent of GDP.”
By the end of this year, the country’s external debt is expected to amount to 35 percent of gross domestic product, Tajik official said. “This year, the global financial crisis has resulted in real GDP growth rate significantly decreasing,” noted Nouraliyev, “In Tajikistan, real GDP rose only 2.5 percent in nine months to October 2009. The fall in the GDP growth rate has led to a 5 percent increase in the country’s external debt over the same nine-month period.”
According to him, Tajikistan’s nominal external debt will increase to 1.637 billion U.S. dollars by the end of this year, and “if the GDP growth rate amounts to 3 percent by the end of this year as it was expected, the country’s external debt will amount to 35 percent o GDP.”
We will recall that over the third quarter of this year Tajikistan’s external debt increased by some 51 million U.S. dollars to 1.524 billion dollars. Minister of Finance Safarali Najmiddinov told reporters in Dushanbe on October 23 that current Tajikistan’s foreign debt now amounts to 32.6 percent of the country’s GDP). As of July 1, 2009, the country’s external debt amounted to 1.47328 billion U.S. dollars, or 25.4 percent of GDP.
Najmiddinov attributed the debt increase to newly attracted loans aimed for implementation of investment projects in the energy sector as well as for construction and rehabilitation of roads and construction of an international terminal at the Dushanbe airport. According to him, the debt structure is favorable despite a certain increase. “The loans have been provided at low interest rates, ranging from 1 to 1.5 percent, and they are repayable in the periods from 24 to 40 years,” Najmiddinov said. He added that China is the main creditor of Tajikistan and Tajikistan now owes 600 million U.S. dollars to this country.
