In 2022, Moldova's external debt exceeded $9 billion
Moldova's external debt reached over $9.4 billion last year. Thus, according to preliminary data from the National Bank of Moldova, during 2022 it increased by 8 percent. Of this amount, just over $3 billion is the debt of the government, the National Bank of Moldova, local governments and state-owned enterprises, and the rest is owed by private companies, economic expert Veaceaslav Ionita explained to Radio Moldova.
In 2022, Moldova's external debt exceeded $9 billion, of which about $3.2 billion is the debt of the Government, the National Bank of Moldova, local governments and state-owned enterprises. In the last year, it has increased by only $700 million, which is a positive phenomenon, economic expert Veaceaslav Ionita told our radio station.
"The current government inherited a very large domestic debt, and the interest it pays on domestic debt is five to seven times higher than the interest on foreign loans. This year, the government will have to pay about 3 billion lei in interest alone on domestic debt. In order to reduce budget expenditure, in 2022, for the first time, the government has not borrowed at all. That is, it did not increase domestic borrowing, but focused on external borrowing. In fact, increasing the government's external debt is aimed at reducing budget spending."
At the same time, according to the economic expert, most of our country's external debt is attributed to private companies. Thus, this is not directly related to citizens, but more to companies that have borrowed externally. According to the data released by the National Bank of Moldova, the largest share of the gross external debt balance goes to long-term debt, i.e., more than 72 percent, with its value increasing by 9.3 percent compared to the end of 2021. Short-term external debt increased by 4.7 percent at the end of last year, accounting for 27.6 percent of the total.
