Georgia’s external debt ups by $437.4 million

5 October 2015 17:28 (UTC+04:00)

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By Vusala Abbasova

The gross external debt of Georgia increased by $437.4 million during the second quarter of 2015, amounting to $14.1 billion as of June 30, 2015, according to the National Bank of Georgia.

Some $341.7 million out of the total figure was a result of financial transactions.

Georgia’s gross external debt now amounts to 90.9 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The gross external debt statistics are directly linked to Balance of Payment statistics, which includes both the external debt of both the public sector (like government, public corporations, and national banks) and the private sector (banking and other sectors).

The external debt of the public sector amounted to $5.9 billion of the total volume of debt or 38.1 percent of GDP, including $4.3 billion from the federal government at 27.3 percent of GDP, $233.0 million in external liabilities from the National Bank of Georgia at 1.5 percent of GDP, and $837.7 million and $605.5 million in bonds and loans to public enterprises, respectively, which amounted to 3.9 percent of GDP.

The external debt of the private sector totaled $8.2 billion or 52.8 percent of GDP. Out of this, the banking sector's external debt amounted to $2.8 billion or 17.9 percent of GDP, the external debt of private corporations stood at $2.5 billion or 16.3 percent of GDP, and $2.9 billion or 18.6 percent of GDP was from intercompany lending.

The net external debt of Georgia amounted to $9.1 billion or 58.6 percent of GDP as of 30 June 2015. Net public sector external debt was $3.4 billion or 21.9 percent of GDP.

Some 94.9 percent of the gross external debt of Georgia was denominated in foreign currencies.

External liabilities of the National Bank of Georgia increased by $1.0 million, while transactions lead to a decrease in the debt by $3.4 million.

By the end of the second quarter of 2015, the external debt of the National Bank of Georgia amounted to $233.0 million, of which $202.5 million are in Special Driving Rights, which have no maturity date and therefore have no obligation to repay them as long as Georgia is a member of the IMF.

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