DUSHANBE, November 27, 2015 Asia-Plus – Tajikistan’s external debt-to-GDP ratio may rise from 22.5 to 30 percent this year, according to experts of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Increase in the external debt-to-GDP ratio has reportedly resulted from the devaluation of the national currency, the somoni.
In a report released at the parliamentary hearings, Tajik Finance Minister Abdusalom Qurboniyon revealed on October 26 that the somoni (TJS) lost 30 percent of its value against the dollar (USD) in a year to September 30, 2015.
We will recall that over the firs the three months of this year alone, TJS has fallen 14.5 percent against USD as remittances from Russia slow. Tajik central bank in April ordered the immediate closure of private currency exchange offices. The National Bank cited the need to assure the “stability” of Tajikistan’s currency market and the somoni exchange rate and “the protection of the interests of clients of credit organizations.”
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) says Tajikistan’s foreign debt is down by 50 million U.S. dollars over the first nine months of this year.
As of October 1, 2015, Tajikistan’s foreign debt reportedly amounted to little more than 2.05 billion U.S. dollars. As of January 1, 2015, the country’s foreign debt amounted to 2.1 billion U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, the government”s debt in the structure of the country’s foreign debt is estimated at more than 1.8 billion U.S. dollars.
Based on current data, the gross domestic product (GDP) for the first nine month of this year was 33.6438 billion somoni (equivalent to more than 5.1 billion U.S. dollars). The real GDP growth rate has fallen 0.5 percent over the report period compared to January-September 2014 – from 6.9 percent to 6.4 percent.
International financial institutions forecast annual domestic product (GDP) growth for Tajikistan to slow appreciably this year.
