Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The total external debt of Uzbekistan for the first nine months of 2019 increased by 24% to US$21.5 billion. This was stated in the review of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan.

According to the regulator, since the beginning of 2019, total external debt has grown by US$4.2 billion.

Total external debt includes borrowing from the public and private sectors. Government debt is US$13.8 billion, and private debt is US$7.7 billion.

The Central Bank notes that over nine months, public external debt has increased sharply and it is expected that the growth trend will continue until the end of this year.

According to the Central Bank, Uzbekistan is attracting new external borrowings to finance state programs for the development of economic sectors and regions.

In January-September, the public sector of Uzbekistan raised US$3.7 billion, of which US$1 billion - international bonds.

Private sector debt increased by US$494.4 million as a result of increase in borrowing by banks and other sectors of the economy.

It should be noted that over the 9 months of 2019, the private sector attracted borrowings totaling US$1.6 billion. The borrowing was mainly carried out by banks - US$1.0 billion, oil and gas and energy companies - US$207.4 million, textile enterprises industries - US$81.6 million and enterprises in other sectors of the economy - US$291.8 million.

The bulk of private external debt is in the oil and gas and energy sectors - US$4.9 billion (64%), the banking sector - US$1.7 billion, the telecommunications sector - US$237.4 million and the textile sector - US$151.6 million.

For the period under review, on the state external debt, repayment of the main debt and interest was carried out in the amount of US$345.8 million and US$207.6 million respectively.

Payments on private external debt made up US$1.1 billion for the main debt and US$231 million for interest. At the same time, enterprises in the oil and gas and energy sectors, as well as in the banking sector, continue to make the largest volume of payments both in terms of principal and interest.