Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The volume of total external debt of the Republic of Uzbekistan as of 1 October 2018 made up US$16.4 billion, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan said in a statement.

Compared to the beginning of 2018, total external debt increased by 4.2% or US$664.3 million.

Public external debt reached US$8 billion, or 53% of the total external debt of the country.

Private external debt exceeded US$7.7 billion or 47% of the country’s total external debt. This includes borrowings from the parent companies, which reached US$1.1 billion or 15% of the total external debt of the country.

The bulk of private foreign debt falls on the oil and gas and energy sectors - US$5.6 billion, or 73%.

The Central Bank noted that debt growth for 9 months of 2018 falls on the public sector (US$1.1 billion), while private sector debt decreased by US$466.2 million.

It should be noted that for first 9 months of 2018, the private sector attracted loans totaling US$536.3 million. Borrowing was mainly carried out by banks - US$340.0 million, of which - US$241.2 million by banks with state share, oil and gas and energy sector - US$57.8 million, textile industry enterprises - US$25.3 million and enterprises of other sectors of the economy - US$113.3 million.

Also, for period under review, the main external debt was paid in the total amount of US$962.6 million and interest in the amount of US$225.9 million, and in the state external debt US$303.7 million and US$122.8 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$645.8 million), as well as the banking (US$151.4 million) and telecommunications sector (US$118.8 million).

Oil, gas and energy enterprises paid US$187.4 million in interest.