Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27
By Fakhri Vakilov-Trend:
As of July 1, Uzbekistan’s total external debt amounted to $20.7 billion, an increase of 20 percent or $3.4 billion from the beginning of the year, Trend reports citing a review of the national Central Bank.
Total external debt includes public and private sector borrowings ($13.2 billion and $7.5 billion). Over the first half of the year, external government debt increased sharply and a growth trend is expected to continue until the end of the year. “This process is explained by the attraction of new external borrowings to finance government programs for the development of industries and regions,” the review says.
The debt of the private sector in the first six months began to increase again mainly due to the growth of borrowings of commercial banks, the regulator noted.
The increase in debt in the first half of the year was observed mainly in the public sector ($3.1 billion), of which $1 billion accounted for international bonds. Private sector debt increased by $330.3 million.
The bulk of private external debt is in the oil and gas and energy sectors amounting to $5.1 billion (68.5 percent). This is followed by the banking ($1.3 billion), telecommunications ($246.7 million), and textile ($139.4 million) sectors.
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