Azerbaijan’s public debt has decreased by 8 percent

As of April 1 this year, Azerbaijan’s public debt amounted to 24 billion 464.7 million manats, accounting for 18.7 percent of the country’s projected gross domestic product for the year.

According to the Ministry of Finance, as cited by The Daily Baku, this represents an 8.1 percent decrease compared to April 1 of last year.

Of the total public debt, 4 billion 689.3 million US dollars, or 7 billion 971.8 million manats, is external debt, accounting for 6.1 percent of GDP. Domestic public debt stands at 16 billion 492.9 million manats, or 12.6 percent of GDP. Compared to a year earlier, these figures have decreased by 7.6 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively.

In the state budget for this year, 2 billion 457.6 million manats have been allocated for servicing public debt and obligations. In the first quarter, 132.5 million manats were paid on domestic debt, specifically interest payments. External debt payments totaled 391.7 million manats, including 269.5 million manats in principal and 122.2 million manats in interest, bringing total debt servicing payments to 524.2 million manats.