The Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) on November 15 endorsed the country’s draft national foreign-borrowing program projected for 2018-2020 and Tajikistan is going to borrow another nearly 850 million U.S. dollars in the coming three years despite unsettled debts.
Presenting the program to lawmakers, Finance Minister Abdusalom Qurboniyon said Tajikistan intends to borrow 196.5 million U.S. dollars (USD) in 2018,295.9 million USD in 2019, and 354.7 million USD in 2020.
According to him, the funds will go to financing the main directions – bringing the country out of transport deadlock, providing Tajikistan’s energy independence and providing the country’s food security.
“1.232 billion somoni (equivalent to 140 million USD) has been allocated for servicing the external debt in January-September this year, including 537 million somoni allocated for principal debt payments and 695 million somoni allocated for debt interest payments.
Recall, Tajikistan’s external debt grew by 26 million USD in six months to July 1, 2017, reaching 2.3 billion USD. As of July 1, 2017, the country’s external debt-to-GDP ratio reached 35.8 percent.
Over the same six-month period, Tajikistan has signed eleven grant and loan agreements for implementation of nine joint investment projects to the total amount of 404.3 million USD, including 105.4 million USD provided in a form of grants and 298.9 million USD provided in a form of loans,” the deputy minister noted.
China reportedly remains Tajikistan’s largest creditor; China accounts for more than 52 percent of Tajikistan’s external debt – more than 1.2 billion U.S. dollars.
As of January 1, 2017, the country’s external debt reportedly amounted to 2.2741 billion U.S. dollars.
