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 18.3 billion USD (60.1 billion GEL) as of 31st of March 2020. It accounted for 103.7 percent of the last four quarters' GDP. During the first quarter of 2020 the gross external debt of Georgia decreased by 350.9 million USD. Out of that 318.6 million USD decrease was due to exchange rate changes, 179.0 million USD decrease was due to price changes, 29.4 million USD decrease - due to other changes, meanwhile transactions lead external debt increase by 176.1 million USD.

Public sector external debt amounted to 7.8 billion USD (25.6 billion GEL) or 44.1 percent of GDP. Out of which, debt of the general government amounted to 5.7 billion USD (18.7 billion GEL) or 32.3 percent of GDP. External liabilities of the National Bank of Georgia amounted to 443.9 million USD (1.5 billion GEL) or 2.5 percent of GDP and, the bonds and loans of public enterprises were correspondingly 755.0 million USD (2.5 billion GEL) or 4.3 percent of GDP and 876.4 million USD (2.9 billion GEL) and 5.0 percent of GDP.

Banking sector external debt amounted to 4.4 billion USD (14.5 billion GEL) or 25.0 percent of GDP; Other sectors' external debt stood at 4.4 billion USD (14.6 billion GEL) or 25.2 percent of GDP; While 3.3 billion USD (10.8 billion GEL) or 18.7 percent of GDP was the intercompany lending. The 89.8 percent of the gross external debt of Georgia was denominated in foreign currency.

The net external debt of Georgia amounted to 10.6 billion USD (34.8 billion GEL) or 60.0 percent of GDP as of 31 March 2020. Net public sector external debt was 4.3 billion USD (14.3 billion GEL) or 24.6 percent of GDP.

External liabilities of the National Bank of Georgia decreased by 5.7 million USD, out of that, exchange rate changes led to decrease of debt by 5.9 million USD, while transactions led to increase by 162.0 thousand USD. By the end of the first quarter of 2020, the external debt of the National Bank of Georgia amounted to 443.9 million USD, of which 196.6 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.

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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.

The presented statistical information is published on the website of the National Bank of Georgia under the heading "Statistics":https://www.nbg.gov.ge/index.php?m=306&lng=eng#external