Wednesday 17 March 2021
Uzbekistan Sets Domestic and Foreign Debt Limit at $5.5 bln
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1 forum postTASHKENT (UzReport) — During a press-briefing yesterday, the Uzbek Finance Minister Timur Ishmetov declared that the foreign debt of his country would not exceed 60% of the the GDP in the long run. He added that domestic and foreign debt for the current year was set up at $5.5 bln.
As of January 1, 2021, Uzbekistan’s foreign debt stood at $2.1 bln, or 36.5% of GDP.
Mr. Ishmetov said:
The foreign debt has reached 36.5% of the GDP, but, this does not mean that our goal is to reach 60%. The government sets this maximum limit for us in order to conduct such an economic policy in the long-term perspective and not exceed this barrier. This means we need to limit the reception of foreign borrowings.
A limit for 2020 was set at $4 bln. Nevertheless, unfortunately, the pandemic has made its own adjustments. We were forced to raise additional funds. And the debt has reached 5.5 bln.
Juliano di M. (17 March 2021, 18:00)
Like many Third World countries that live on natural resource rents, Uzbekistan has increased its expenditure faster than its income. Unluckily for them, the world has gone into crisis and the price of oil and gas is not what it used to be (and won’t be for a long time).