Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The volume of the total external debt of Uzbekistan as of 1 January 2019 made up US$17.3 billion, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan said.

According to the regulator, in comparison with the beginning of 2018, external debt increased by 9.5% or US$1.5 billion. 

Uzbekistan’s public external debt as of 1 January 2019 reached US$10.08 billion and increased by US$2.48 billion compared to the beginning of 2018.

Private external debt decreased by US$977.3 million and amounted to US$7.2 billion as of 1 January 2019.

The Central Bank noted that 75% of private foreign debt, or US$5.38 billion, is in the oil and gas sector. Compared to the beginning of 2018, the debt of the oil and gas sector decreased by US$763.2 million.

The external debt of the telecommunications sector decreased by US$717.4 million - to US$248.2 million as of January 1, 2019.

The banking sector of Uzbekistan increased its external debt by US$394.2 million in 2018 - to US$978.2 million as of January 1, 2019.

It should be noted that in 2018, the private sector attracted loans totaling US$866.1 million. Borrowing was mainly carried out by banks - US$588.0 million, oil, gas and energy enterprises - US$76.0 million, textile enterprises - US$57.0 million and enterprises of other sectors of the economy - US$145.1 million.

At the same time, for the period under review, the main external debt was paid in the amount of US$1.3 billion and in the amount of US$366.6 million, while in the state external debt - US$397.7 million and US$151.3 million, respectively .

At the same time, a significant amount of repayment of the main debt of the private sector falls on the oil and gas and energy sector (US$862.2 million), as well as the banking (US$192.8 million) and telecommunications sector (US$149 million).

Oil, gas and energy enterprises paid interest of US$296.7 million, while interest payments from the banking sector totaled US$42.6 million.