Head of National Bank tells about Kazakhstan's external debt

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - As of January 1, 2018, the external debt of the country was $168 billion, Governor of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan Daniyar Akishev told today's briefing on the results of the Kazakh Senate session, Kazinform correspondent reports.

Daniyar Akishev pointed out that 62% of the external debt accounted for intercompany debt, which mainly consists of the debt of branches of foreign companies implementing oil and gas projects in Kazakhstan.

"The external debt of the public sector, the government-controlled organizations, and the private sector is 8%, 16%, and 14%, respectively," Akishev said.

According to him, over the past 3 years, Kazakhstan's external debt has increased by $10 billion, or 6%, due to the growth of the external debt of the government and government-controlled organizations, as well as intra-group financing. External debt liabilities of the private financial sector decreased by $4 billion, or 56%.

The Governor of the National Bank also said that the Government is currently strengthening control over public and quasi-public borrowing. The National Bank, in turn, continues working to regulate the external debt of financial institutions.