BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 16. Work is underway in Azerbaijan to increase the domestic public debt, Azer Mursagulov, director of the Agency for Managing Public Debt and Financial Obligations under the Azerbaijani Finance Ministry, said, Trend reports.
According to Mursagulov, in the short term the country’s public debt can be reduced to less than 10 percent of GDP, and for this it has the necessary resources and foreign exchange reserves.
"Our government anytime can reduce the current indicator to 10 percent or less of GDP by covering a part of the debt. However, taking into account the volume of foreign exchange reserves of Azerbaijan, the economy, and macroeconomic indicators, we plan to reduce the public debt to GDP ratio to 10 percent not in upcoming, but in short term," he said.
Besides, the agency’s head noted that the world practice shows that as external debt decreases, domestic debt begins to grow.
"Thus, we are working to reduce the external public debt and increase the internal one," concluded Mursagulov.