DUSHANBE, April 26, 2010, Asia-Plus — As of April 1, 2010, Tajikistan’s foreign debt reached 34.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), Finance Minister Safarali Najmiddinov announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on April 26.
According him, the country’s foreign debt rose 188,000 U.S. dollars in three months to March 31, 2010, reaching 1.712 billion U.S. dollars.
The minister attributes increase in the foreign debt over the report, first of all, to decrease in the GDP real growth rate.
“In the meantime, Tajikistan’s foreign debt has shown downward tendency in recent years due to a new foreign debt management strategy,” said Najmiddinov, “To support the budget and the country’s economic development, the government now tries to attract more grants than loans.”
He added that seven agreements for a total of 259 million somoni have been signed over the first three months of this year, including loan agreements for 132 million somoni and grant agreements for 127 million somoni. Seven other agreements for a total of 833 million somoni will be signed in the coming several months, the finance minister said.
