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Economy

Uzbekistan’s external debt reaches $84.1 billion as imports run 24% ahead of a year earlier

Uzbekistan’s total external debt stood at $84.1 billion on 1 July, $1.9 billion more than on 1 January, the Central Bank’s half-year review of the balance of payments says. Of that, the state owed $41.7 billion and companies and banks $42.4 billion. The current account ran a deficit of about $6.2 billion in the first half, with exports of goods down 8.6% and imports up 24%.

By CAW Staff30 September 2026
Two stacked bars showing Uzbekistan’s state and corporate external debt on 1 January and 1 July 2026 beside a line for the reserves.

The review, published on Tuesday and carried by Spot on Wednesday at 10:06 Tashkent time, dates the debt to 1 July. Public external debt rose by $1.2 billion in the half, from $40.5 billion, and the private sector’s by $0.7 billion, from $41.7 billion, on Spot’s reading of the tables.

Its second number is the deficit. Over January to June the current account was about $6.2 billion in deficit, the net inflow of foreign direct investment $2.3 billion, and the Central Bank’s reserves $63.77 billion on 1 July.

The corporate half of the debt, $42.4 billion, now exceeds the state’s, as it has since at least the turn of the year, when Spot reported the corporate sector overtaking the state.

Exports of goods fell 8.6% against the first half of 2025 and imports rose 24%, the review says, and Spot gives the half-year totals as $15.4 billion and $28.8 billion.

Set against the debt, the reserves cover three quarters of it, $63.77 billion against $84.1 billion. The corporate half of the debt, $42.4 billion, now exceeds the state’s, as it has since at least the turn of the year, when Spot reported the corporate sector overtaking the state.

Unresolved: the ratio of the debt to output and its service cost for 2026, which the review does not state.

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