Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 18
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
As of Jan.1, 2016, Azerbaijan's external public debt amounted to $6.894 billion (10.751 billion manat) which accounts for 19.8 percent of the country's GDP, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Finance said Feb. 17.
The statement said that the statistics on the loans included direct obligations of the state and contingent liabilities on loans under state guarantee.
Of the total volume of borrowings, some 58.6 percent will be paid off within 10 years, 32.9 percent - from 10 to 20 years, and 8.5 percent - for a period exceeding 20 years.
As of Jan.1, the currency structure of loans is as follows: 8.8 percent of funds were attracted to the SDR (Special Drawing Rights of the IMF), 66.3 percent - in US dollars, 20.4 percent - in euros, 2.5 percent - Japanese yen, 0.8 percent - UAE dirham, 0.6 percent - the Islamic dinar, 0.4 percent - Saudi Arabian riyal and 0.2 percent - Kuwaiti dinar.
The funds which were mainly attracted from the World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other international financial institutions, were sent to support the economic reform programs, rehabilitation and reconstruction of infrastructure, including the construction and rehabilitation of power plants, construction of roads, improvement of water supply of regions, the development of services in the sphere of aviation and railways, as well as industry and energy.
The official exchange rate is 1.5675 AZN/USD as of Feb. 18.
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