Gross External Debt of Georgia
Gross external debt statistics are harmonized with BOP statistics. They include both public sector (general government, public corporations and national bank) and private sector (banking and other sectors) external debt. External debt statistics are compiled according to the methodology provided by the IMF's “External Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users” (2003).
The gross external debt of Georgia amounted to 21.8 billion USD (67.6 billion GEL) as of 31st of December 2021. It accounted for 116.8 percent of 2021 annual GDP. During the fourth quarter of 2021 the gross external debt of Georgia increased by 775.7 million USD. Out of that, 901.3 million USD increase was due to transactions, 74.5 million USD increase - due to other changes, while exchange rate and price changes lead to its decrease by 167.7 and 32.3 million USD respectively.
Public sector external debt amounted to 10.7 billion USD (33.0 billion GEL) or 57.0 percent of GDP. Out of which, debt of the general government amounted to 8.0 billion USD (24.6 billion GEL) or 42.5 percent of GDP. External liabilities of the National Bank of Georgia amounted to 954.1 million USD (3.0 billion GEL) or 5.1 percent of GDP, and the bonds and loans of public enterprises were correspondingly 503.0 million USD (1.6 billion GEL) or 2.7 percent of GDP and 1.2 billion USD (3.8 billion GEL) and 6.6 percent of GDP.
Banking sector external debt amounted to 4.6 billion USD (14.2 billion GEL) or 24.5 percent of GDP; Other sectors’ external debt stood at 4.9 billion USD (15.1 billion GEL) or 26.0 percent of GDP; While 3.5 billion USD (10.8 billion GEL) or 18.6 percent of GDP was the intercompany lending. 90.7 percent of the gross external debt of Georgia was denominated in foreign currency.
The net external debt of Georgia amounted to 13.3 billion USD (41.2 billion GEL) or 71.0 percent of annual GDP of 2021. Net public sector external debt was 6.3 billion USD (19.7 billion GEL) or 33.9 percent of GDP.
External liabilities of the National Bank of Georgia decreased by 11.5 million USD, out of that, transactions led to decrease of the debt by 5.1 million USD; exchange rate changes decrease the debt by 6.4 million USD. By the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, the external debt of the National Bank of Georgia amounted to 954.1 million USD, of which 483.8 million USD are Special Drawing Rights (SDR)1 which have no maturity date, therefore there is no obligation to repay them as long as Georgia is a member of the IMF.
The presented statistical information is published on the website of the National Bank of Georgia under the heading “Statistics”.
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1Allocated SDR is international reserve asset created by the IMF that is allocated to member countries in proportion to their IMF quotas. Allocated SDR is a liability that has no maturity date, therefore there is no obligation to repay them as long as the country is a member of the IMF. The amount of the above mentioned allocated SDR is presented in the assets of the National Bank and thereafter the net liability of the National Bank equals zero. From 2009, the IMF changed its methodological treatment towards SDR and, according to the new approach, allocated SDR is also recorded in liabilities.