The Ministry of Finance of Kyrgyzstan has allocated 28.716 billion soms (over $320 million) for servicing the external debt. The majority of the funds went towards repaying the principal amount of the debt, stated Abdanbek Abdybapov, the head of the public debt department at the Ministry of Finance of Kyrgyzstan, Akchabar reports.
Out of the total payment, Kyrgyzstan spent 22.603 billion soms on repaying the principal amount of external obligations, explained Abdybapov.
Another 6.113 billion soms were directed to the repayment of interest on the external debt.
The largest amount was directed to the Export-Import Bank of China, with Kyrgyzstan paying 8.099 billion soms ($90.5 million) towards the principal debt and 3.1 billion soms towards interest. "This is the largest amount we have paid this year to one creditor," assured Abdanbek Abdybapov, the head of the public debt department at the Ministry of Finance of Kyrgyzstan.
The second and third-largest payments were made to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Development Association (IDA, a World Bank Group). Kyrgyzstan paid 4.58 billion soms towards the principal debt and 1.193 billion soms towards interest to the IMF this year. Before the IDA, Kyrgyzstan repaid 2.732 billion soms towards the principal debt and 406 million soms towards interest.
Abdanbek Abdybapov clarified that Kyrgyzstan will pay another 3 billion soms towards the external debt by the end of this year.
Currently, Kyrgyzstan has $4.486 billion in external debt and $1.5 billion in domestic borrowings.
According to the statement by the Cabinet of Ministers, Kyrgyzstan's GDP will exceed 1 trillion soms this year, equivalent to $11 billion at the current exchange rate.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
November 28, 2023