DUSHANBE, October 25, 2010, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan’s foreign debt increased by US$126.35 million in nine months to October 1, 2010, reaching 1,790,045,000 U.S. dollars, Minister of Finance Safarali Najmiddinov announced at a news conference in Dushanbe n October 25.
According to him, the country’s external debt now amounts to 31.8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
“The long-term preferential loans from international financial institutions form the bulk of the country’s foreign debt,” said the minister, “US$370 million has been borrowed from the World Bank and US$325 million has been borrowed from the Asian Development Bank.
China remains Tajikistan’s largest creditor as US$655 million has been borrowed from China’s Exim (export/import) Bank for enhancement of the energy and transportation sectors
Tajikistan now also owes US$85 million to the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), US$40 million to the European Union, US$35 million to Uzbekistan and US$17 million to Iran.
This year, the national budget has earmarked US$47.67 million for servicing foreign debt: US$27.18 million will go to repaying the principal and US$20.49 million will go to paying interest on the debt, the minister added.
We will recall that as of January 1, 2010, Tajikistan’s foreign debt stood at 1.6913 billion U.S. dollars (35.8 percent of the country’s GDP). 122.7 million U.S. dollars were allocated from the country’s budget last year for servicing the government’s direct debt: more than US$93 million and some US$30 million were allocated for principal and interest payments respectively.
