28 Jul 2009 14:09

Tajikistan sees foreign debt expand 7.4% in H1

DUSHANBE. July 28 (Interfax) - Tajikistan saw foreign debt grow 7.4% to $1.473 billion in the first half of 2009, Finance Minister Safarali Nazhmuddinov said at a press conference on Tuesday.

"Tajikistan's foreign debt increased by $101.84 million from January 1, 2009 to July 1 and totaled $1.473 billion, or 25.4% of GDP," he said.

Despite the increase, debt actually declined as a percentage of GDP from 26.7% on January 1, he said.

Farrukh Khamraliyev, chairman of the State Investment and Property Management Committee, said at the press conference that the Tajik economy received investment of 1.5 billion somoni (about $342 million) in the first half of 2009.

"At present, $342 million in investment was attracted in the first half, but we want to increase it considerably in the second half and bring this figure to $1.5 billion," he said.

Russia, China and Turkey are the main investors in Tajikistan.

The official exchange rate on July 28 was 4.3908 somoni/$1.