External debt reaches USD 153.2bn as of end-September. Outstanding external debt reached USD
153.2bn as of end-September against USD 145.8bn at end-2003 and USD 148.1bn at end-June.
The share of external debt to GNP remained the same at 53.9%, and also remaining the same compared to
the previous quarter, but it was lower than 55.8% at end-2003. As of end-Q3/2004, the short-term debt
had 19.1% share in debt stock, while the medium & long-term debt constituted 80.9% of the stock.
Looking at the breakdown of medium & long-term debt, the central government budget debt stands at
USD 64.9bn, the bond issues on international markets constitute USD 27.5bn of that figure. The total
public sector debt (including central government debt) and Central Bank debt are USD 71.4and USD
17.8bn, against USD 70bn and USD 18.8bn at the end of previous quarter.
As for the debt of the private sector, it increased to USD 34.7bn at end-up by 3.5% q/q. The exchange rate fluctuations resulted into USD 1bn decline since the start of the 2003.