In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, Minister of Finance Faiziddin Qahhorzoda revealed on February 14 that Tajikistan’s external debt amounted to 2.888.4 billion U.S. dollars as of January 1, 2020.
According to him, external debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio in Tajikistan was 35.8 percent as of January 1, 2020..
On the amount of the external debt, Qahhorzoda noted that “the Ministry of Finance complies with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s recommendations.”
“All our wok on attracting foreign borrowings will be based on the foreign borrowing management strategy,” said the minister said. “We will try not to go beyond the IMF recommendations.”
The minister noted that up to 2020 million U.S. dollars would be spent this year for servicing external debt.
China remains Tajikistan’s largest creditor. As of January 1, 2020, Tajikistan reportedly owes more than 1.164 billion USD to the Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank).
Besides, Tajikistan has relatively large debts to the World Bank (325 million USD), the Asian Development Bank (259 million USD) and the Islamic Development Bank (135 million USD).
The issuance of a US$500 million Eurobond in September 2017 is also one of the primary drivers of the rise in Tajikistan’s external debt.
In accordance with the national foreign-borrowing program, which has been adopted by the parliament last year, the country’s external debt is expected to amount to 3.2 billion USD in 2020, 3.3 billion USD in 2021 and 3.5 billion USD in 2022.
This program is expected to help the government timely finance social projects, and thereby, provide development of priority sectors of the country’s economy.
