Tajikistan’s national budget for 2018 projects expenditure of more than 1.1 billion somoni (equivalent to 125 million U.S. dollars) for the external debt service, which is equal to 1.6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
According to Tajikistan’s national budget for 2018, the country’s external debt will be served owing to operational expenditure in the amount of some 539 million somoni. Besides, more than 566 million somoni will go to serving the external debt due to issuance of government bills, attraction of loans and grants from international financial institutions, return of funds on sub-loan agreements and unencumbered balances of the national budget.
According to the preliminary data from the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the country’s external debt has reached more than 2.803 billion U.S. dollars by October 1, 2017.
The government direct debt reportedly amounts to more than 2.1 billion USD.
The government guaranteed debts amount to 31.7 million USD, while the debts not guaranteed by the government amount to 31.5 million USD.
Debts of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) amount to 112 million USD. Tajik central bank now owes 99.6 million USD to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), 8 million USD to China and 4.4 million USD to the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).
China reportedly remains Tajikistan’s largest creditor. Tajikistan now owes more than 1.2 billion U.S. dollars to China’s Export-Import Bank (China Eximbank).
Despite unsettled debts, Tajikistan is going to borrow another nearly 850 million U.S. dollars in the coming three years.
Presenting the country’s draft national foreign-borrowing program projected for 2018-2020 to lawmakers, Finance Minister Abdusalom Qurboniyon said on November 15 that 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.
