Tajikistan to reduce the risks of external debt at the securities market expense

Almaty. April 6. Silkroadnews – Tajikistan’s Ministry of Finance plans to stop the dominance of foreign-currency debt within the structure of its foreign debt and for this will facilitate the government securities market development, the Tajik Telegraph Agency (TajikTA) reported on Thursday.

“To stabilize Tajikistan’s external debt the Ministry of Finance plans to develop the government securities market. With the volatility observed in the international markets, the foreign-currency debt prevailing (73%) within the structure of Tajikistan’s public debt makes the debt position of the republic quite vulnerable. [In such a situation] there is an objective need arising to get the state’s debt policy reoriented to deploy the domestic sources and reserves”, the report of the country’s financial department on the state debt for 2016 says.

The unfavorable financial and economic situation is reported to have an appropriate impact on the external debt of Tajikistan, which level raised by 4.8% by the end of 2016 on a year-on-year basis, amounting to 32.7% of gross domestic product (GDP).

From this perspective, the primary task, according to the ministry’s analysts, is to facilitate the development of the government securities market and raise the share of debt in the national currency up to 50% at least. “This should reduce currency risks and risks of prolongation of the national debt”, the report says.

The officials of Tajikistan’s ministry of finance notes, the country’s financial resources management system plays the high value on managing the government debt, as unbalanced debt policy can result in economic and political problems.

As of January 1, 2017, the external loan of Tajikistan amounted to $2.274 billion. During 2016 the country’s foreign debt increased by $168 million.