Azerbaijan’s external public debt has significantly dropped.
This was stated by President Ilham Aliyev on December 31 in his address to the people on the occasion of the Day of Solidarity of Azerbaijanis worldwide and the New Year.
“A few years ago, I set this task for the government that our external debt should be below 10% of our gross domestic product (GDP). At the end of the last year, the debt amounted to 17%; at the end of this year – 9.5%. To compare, I can say that in some developed countries the external debt is 100-150% of gross domestic product. That is, we are not completely dependent on international financial institutions,” he added.
However, a number of experts do not consider the official figures of the external public debt of Azerbaijan to be true. To their thinking, the accounts payable of state-owned companies on the basis of state guarantees should also be considered as foreign public debt. The practice of the International Bank of Azerbaijan is indicative that when a state-owned enterprise cannot repay a debt, the state must fulfill the obligation instead.
Source: Turan News Agency