DUSHANBE, July 25, 2014, Asia-Plus -- As of July 1, 2014, Tajikistan’s external debt amounted to 2.2 billion U.S. dollars (USD), First Deputy Minister of Finance, Jamoliddin Nouraliyev, announced at a  news conference in Dushanbe on July 25.

On the debt-to-GDP ratio, which is one of indicators of the health of an economy, Nouraliyev noted that the external debt debt-to-GDP ratio was 21.9 percent.

According to him, the national budget has allocated 67 million U.S. dollars for the external debt service, including 51.3 million U.S. dollars for principal debt payments and 15.7 million U.S. dollars for debt interest payments.

 As of January 1, 2014, Tajikistan’s external debt amounted to 2.1615 billion U.S. dollars and the last year’s Tajikistan external debt-to-GDP ratio was 25.4 percent

External debt (or foreign debt) is that part of the total debt in a country that is owed to creditors outside the country.  The debtors can be the government, corporations or citizens of that country.  The debt includes money owed to private commercial banks, other governments, or international financial institutions.

Meanwhile, the country’s internal debt amounted to 2.3 billion somoni as of July 1, 2014 and the internal debt debt-to-GDP ratio was 4.7 percent, according to the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

The national budget has reportedly allocated 55 million for the internal debt service (for payment of government bills).

Internal debt is the part of the total debt in a country that is owed to lenders within the country.  Internal public debt owed by a government is part of the country''s national debt. It is a form of fiat creation of money, in which the government obtains cash not by printing it, but by borrowing it. The money created is in the form of treasury securities or securities borrowed from the central bank.