Gross External Debt of Georgia

Gross External Debt of Georgia

30 June, 2021
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 20.6 billion USD (70.3 billion GEL) as of 31st of March 2021. It accounted for 132.9 percent of last four quarter GDP. During the first quarter of 2021 the gross external debt of Georgia increased by 22.6 million USD. Out of that, 467.4 million USD increase was due to transactions, 15.9 million USD increase - due to price changes; Meanwhile, gross external debt of Georgia decreased by 332.8 million USD due to exchange rate changes and by 127.9 million USD due to other changes during the first quarter 2021.

Public sector external debt amounted to 9.9 billion USD (33.8 billion GEL) or 64.0 percent of GDP. Out of which, debt of the general government amounted to 7.6 billion USD (26.0 billion GEL) or 49.2 percent of GDP. External liabilities of the National Bank of Georgia amounted to 573.8 million USD (2.0 billion GEL) or 3.7 percent of GDP, and the bonds and loans of public enterprises were correspondingly 797.1 million USD (2.7 billion GEL) or 5.1 percent of GDP and 925.4 million USD (3.2 billion GEL) and 6.0 percent of GDP.

Banking sector external debt amounted to 4.4 billion USD (15.0 billion GEL) or 28.5 percent of GDP; Other sectors' external debt stood at 4.8 billion USD (16.4 billion GEL) or 31.1 percent of GDP; While 3.2 billion USD (10.8 billion GEL) or 20.5 percent of GDP was the intercompany lending. 92.6 percent of the gross external debt of Georgia was denominated in foreign currency.

The net external debt of Georgia amounted to 12.3 billion USD (42.0 billion GEL) or 79.4 percent of last four quarters GDP. Net public sector external debt was 5.8 billion USD (19.7 billion GEL) or 37.3 percent of GDP.

External liabilities of the National Bank of Georgia decreased by 9.4 million USD, out of that, transactions led to decrease of the debt by 39.0 thousand USD; exchange rate changes decrease the debt by 9.4 million USD. By the end of the first quarter of 2021, the external debt of the National Bank of Georgia amounted to 573.8 million USD, of which 204.0 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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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.

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=304