BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 28. Azerbaijan's government debt amounted to 26.2 billion manat ($15.4 billion) as of October 1 of this year, marking equivalence to 21.6 percent of the country's projected GDP for 2024.
Data obtained by Trend from the country's Ministry of Finance shows that this represents a 52.3 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
The external debt stood at almost $5.3 billion (7.4 percent of the projected GDP), which is a decrease of 18.9 percent, while the internal debt was 17.2 billion manat ($10.1 billion, or 14.2 percent), growing by 2.8 times compared to last year.
The ministry highlighted that the sharp rise in internal debt is linked to the implementation of a targeted borrowing policy within the framework of the "Medium and Long-Term Public Debt Management Strategy".
"This includes the development of the government securities market, the formation of the government debt yield curve, and the substitution of external debt with domestic debt," the ministry's statement reads.
As of October 1, the structure of external debt by currency is as follows: SDR (Special Drawing Rights of the IMF) – 3.7 percent, US dollars – 86.1 percent, euro – 6.1 percent, Japanese yen – 3.4 percent, and other currencies – 0.7 percent.
Floating interest rate liabilities account for 48.3 percent of external debt, while fixed rate liabilities make up 51.7 percent.
In terms of repayment terms, external debt is distributed as follows: 48.5 percent is due within five years, 44.5 percent is due between five and 10 years, and seven percent is due in more than 10 years.
Azerbaijan's external debt includes loans from international financial institutions for infrastructure projects and funding programs, as well as outstanding amounts on government securities issued on international financial markets.
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