Uzbekistan’s external debt increases in 2019
By Abdul Kerimkhanov
The volume of Uzbekistan’s external debt increased by 24 percent to $21.5 billion in January-September 2019, the country’s Central Bank (CB) has reported in its recent review.
The country’s external debt has grown by $4.2 billion since the beginning of 2019.
The total external debt includes borrowing from the public and private sectors. The government debt is $13.8 billion, while private debt is $7.7 billion, the CB said.
The CB added that in the above-mentioned period of time, public external debt has increased sharply.
The regulator further said Uzbekistan is attracting new external borrowings to finance state programs for the development of economic sectors and regions.
"In January-September, the public sector of Uzbekistan raised $3.7 billion, of which $1 billion accounted for international bonds. Private sector debt increased by $494.4 million as a result of increase in borrowing by banks and other sectors of the economy,” the review reads.
Over the nine months of 2019, the private sector attracted borrowings totaling $1.6 billion. The borrowing was mainly carried out by banks - $1.0 billion, oil and gas and energy companies - $207.4 million, textile enterprises industries - $81.6 million and enterprises in other sectors of the economy - $291.8 million.
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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94
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