NBG: Georgia Has $15 Billion Foreign Debt

The gross external debt of Georgia amounted to USD 15 billion as of 31 December 2015, 107 percent of the last four quarters Gross Domestic Product (GDP), says the National Bank of Georgia. During the fourth quarter of 2015 the gross external debt of Georgia increased by USD 357.0 million. Out of that a USD 441.1 million increase was due to transactions.

The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) also published the numbers on public sector external debt- USD 6.0 billion, 43.3 percent of GDP. Of this, the debt of the general government amounted to USD 4.4 billion or 31.5 percent of GDP. External liabilities of the NBG amounted to USD 219.2 million- 1.6 percent of GDP. Moreover, the bonds and loans of public enterprises were correspondingly USD 782.5 million, 5.6 percent of GDP, and USD 650.3 million, 4.7 percent of GDP.

Banking sector external debt amounted to USD 2.9 billion or 21.1 percent of GDP. The external debt of other sectors stood at USD 4.4 billion or 31.8 percent of GDP, while USD 3.0 billion, or 21.5 percent of GDP, consisted of intercompany lending. 94.7 percent of the gross external debt of Georgia was denominated in foreign currency.

The NBG stated that the net external debt of Georgia amounted to USD 9.4 billion, 67.3 percent of GDP, as of 31 December 2015 while net public sector external debt was USD 3.5 billion, or 25 percent of GDP.

The NBG explained the gross external debt statistics were harmonized with a balance of payments and included external debt of the public sector (general government, public corporations and the national bank) and the private sector (banking and other sectors).

Eka Karsaulidze