Azerbaijan to replace foreign currency debts with national currency debt

One of the parts of the complex socio-economic reforms program, which is being executed upon the President Ilham Aliyev, is improvement of the management of the state finance. One of these elements is Public Debt Management, Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov told journalists, Report informs.

"Several measures have been taken on public debt management. As well as, fiscal budget rule was affirmed thanks to amendments in the legislation on budget system for 2018. Moreover, the head of state confirmed the long-term strategy on public debt management. Along with this, President’s task to reduce the ratio of external debt to GDP is being executed. Last year, the ratio of foreign currency debt to GDP fell by 5 percentage points from 24% to 19%. At the same time, we are also planning to take measures on development of internal debt market. Our main duty is to replace foreign currency debts with national currency debt. I think this will increase our debt sustainability and strengthen our resistance to external shocks in the world market," the minister added.