“Everything is being used purposefully” – President voiced his concerns about foreign debt

“I watch a lot on social media, in various speeches – people criticize us for our growing foreign debt. Criticism is certainly possible, but only if it is justified. Let’s take the example of Sergeli district alone. If we did not attract the necessary resources, would we be able to implement metro projects worth $500 million? Would we be able to do so much construction fast? Now so many people own houses, thousands of our people use the subway. We are building factories, creating jobs.

External debt serves the well-being of our people. Most importantly – the amount of external debt is within the law. External debt is not given to all countries either: there is confidence that it is provided to us. Everything is used purposefully and returned on time. We have a much lower external debt than other countries,” he said.

As of October 1, 2021, the total external debt of Uzbekistan reached $37.6 billion. The Department of Public Debt of the Finance Ministry said that the amount of external debt is expected to decrease from 2023-2024.

According to the current legislation, the balance of public debt should not exceed 60% of GDP. At the beginning of 2021, public debt to GDP amounted to 38.8%. In 2021, this figure will decrease due to the stabilization of the growth rate of public debt. In terms of external debt, Uzbekistan is not a high-risk country.

As of January 1, 2022, Uzbekistan’s gold and foreign exchange reserves amounted to $35.13 billion. That figure was $34.74 billion as of December 1, 2021, and official reserves increased by about $400 million by the end of the year.