Kyrgyzstan to pay off most of its foreign debt by 2030 - PM

BISHKEK. Nov 23 (Interfax) - Kyrgyzstan will repay the bulk of its $4.5 billion in foreign debt by 2030, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Akylbek Japarov said at a parliamentary meeting on Thursday.

"We will repay most of the foreign debt by 2030: $344 million in 2023, $400 million in 2024, $430 million in 2025, and $390 million in 2026. State policy on external debt will change," Japarov said, as quoted by the government press service.

The issue of repaying the country's foreign debt is serious and "it will not be possible to avoid paying it," given that a maximum peak in payments is expected in the coming years, he said.

He also said that the republic's budget for 2024 contains "no amounts for loans and grants received for budget support; the country is relying on its own sources."

The Prime Minister also said that at the end of H1 2023, state assets totaled 712.9 billion som ($7.9 billion), which is 21.4 times more than in 2015.

As reported, in August of this year, the Analytical Credit Rating Agency (ACRA) confirmed the long-term ratings of Kyrgyzstan in foreign and national currencies at the B-level with a "stable" outlook.

The agency noted that the country's foreign public debt, in contrast to internal debt, is at a fairly high level of 42% of GDP in 2022. However, a significant portion of the debt position represents concessional borrowing with favorable payment terms. Domestic public debt is significantly less (10% of GDP in 2022) and is almost entirely long-term.