Of this amount:

  • Public (state) external debt accounts for $35.8 billion, an increase of $1.9 billion.
  • Corporate (private sector) external debt reached $32.6 billion, up $2.4 billion.

The report notes that both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and global credit rating agencies continue to assess Uzbekistan’s debt burden as moderate, largely because most of the loans are obtained under preferential terms.

For context, external debt is composed of public sector debt and private (corporate) sector debt. Notably, many entities categorized as “private” — including UzAuto Motors, Uzbekneftegaz, the National Bank of Uzbekistan, and Uzsanoatqurilishbank — are either state-owned or partially state-owned. The government still holds around 68% of the banking sector and issued billions of dollars in debt instruments between 2019 and 2021 through such enterprises.

Quarterly debt trends

In just the first quarter alone, the external debt grew by $4.3 billion, including:

  • $1.9 billion in new state debt
  • $2.4 billion in increased corporate debt

In comparison, total external debt rose by $10.8 billion in 2024, the highest annual increase since the Central Bank began tracking the data in 2013. The last significant jumps occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 ($9.2 billion) and in 2023 ($9.8 billion).

In recent years, growth in public debt has slowed slightly, but corporate borrowing has increased sharply.

Government’s stance on growing debt

On June 3, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Jamshid Kuchkarov addressed Parliament, emphasizing the need for large-scale investments, including those funded through external borrowing, to maintain sustainable economic growth.

“There’s active discussion on social media about public debt. Naturally, in a growing economy like Uzbekistan’s, there is a pressing need for major financial resources — both for infrastructure projects and the social sector. Large amounts of foreign investments are coming into the country through public-private partnership (PPP) projects and private capital,” Kuchkarov said.