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 23.5 billion USD (63.6 billion GEL) as of 31^st of December 2022. It stood at 95.7 percent of 2022 annual GDP. During the fourth quarter of 2022 the gross external debt of Georgia increased by 1.4 billion USD. Out of that, 764.2 million USD increase and 568.1 million USD increase was due to exchange rate changes and transactions respectively, and 66.3 million USD increase was due to price changes. At the same time, other changes led to its decrease by 8.7 million USD.

 

Public sector external debt amounted to 10.6 billion USD (28.7 billion GEL) or 43.2 percent of GDP, out of which, debt of the general government amounted to 8.1 billion USD (21.8 billion GEL) or 32.8 percent of GDP. External liabilities of the National Bank of Georgia amounted to 896.2 million USD (2.4 billion GEL) or 3.6 percent of GDP, and the bonds and loans of public enterprises were correspondingly 440.0 million USD (1.2 billion GEL) or 1.8 percent of GDP and 1.2 billion USD (3.3 billion GEL) and 5.0 percent of GDP.

 

Banking sector external debt amounted to 6.5 billion USD (17.5 billion GEL) or 26.4 percent of GDP; Other sectors’ external debt stood at 4.7 billion USD (12.6 billion GEL) or 19.0 percent of GDP; While 3.4 billion USD (9.3 billion GEL) or 13.9 percent of GDP was the intercompany lending. 89.3 percent of the gross external debt of Georgia was denominated in a foreign currency. Of which 50.7 percent is denominated in US Dollars and 27.1 percent in Euros.

 

The net external debt of Georgia amounted to 12.5 billion USD (33.7 billion GEL) or 50.6 percent of 2022 annual GDP. Net public sector external debt was 5.7 billion USD (15.5 billion GEL) or 23.3 percent of GDP.

 

External liabilities of the National Bank of Georgia increased by 28.0 million USD, out of that, exchange rate changes increased the debt by 34.5 million USD and transactions led to decrease of the debt by 6.5 million USD. By the end of the year 2022, the external debt of the National Bank of Georgia amounted to 896.2 million USD, of which 462.1 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”: https://nbg.gov.ge/en/statistics/statistics-data

 

¹ Allocated 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.