BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 28.
Azerbaijan's strategic currency reserves amounted to $89.4 billion
as of October 1, 2026, exceeding its external public debt by 19.8
times.
This was reflected in a report by the Ministry of Finance of
Azerbaijan.
As of October 1, 2026, Azerbaijan's public debt amounted to over
23.89 billion manat ($14.1 billion).
According to the report, public debt accounted for 17.3% of the
country's GDP, projected at nearly 138.04 billion manat ($81.2
billion) for 2026.
Of the total public debt, roughly 7.67 billion manat ($4.5
billion), or 32.1%, accounted for external public debt, while 16.23
billion manat ($9.5 billion), or 67.9%, accounted for domestic
public debt.
As of the reporting period, the upper limits set out in the
Medium- and Long-Term Public Debt Management Strategy were also
observed. Specifically, the requirements that public debt not
exceed 30% of GDP and external public debt not exceed $10 billion
were met.
External public debt
As of October 1, Azerbaijan's external public debt amounted to
$4.5095 billion. This was equivalent to 5.6% of the country's GDP
projected for 2026.
External public debt decreased by $304 million compared with
January 1, 2026.
According to the breakdown of external public debt by interest
rate type, as of the reporting date, 48.8% of the debt consisted of
variable-rate liabilities, while 51.2% consisted of fixed-rate
liabilities.
Of the external public debt, 67.7% is due to be repaid to
creditors within five years, 26.8% within five to 10 years, and
5.5% in more than 10 years.
The US dollar accounted for 86.3% of the currency structure of
external public debt. The euro accounted for 5.8%, the
International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) for
2.9%, the Japanese yen for 3.2%, and other currencies for 1.7%.
During the first 9 months of 2026, the state budget covered
payments of $766.9 million in principal and $285.7 million in
interest on external debt.
Domestic public debt
As of the reporting period, Azerbaijan's domestic public debt
amounted to 16.23 billion manat ($9.5 billion). This was equivalent
to 11.8% of the country's GDP projected for 2026.
Domestic public debt decreased by over 1.57 billion manat
($926.1 million) compared with January 1, 2026.
Of the domestic public debt, about 7.77 billion manat ($4.6
billion) accounted for outstanding government securities, while
8.46 billion manat ($5 billion) accounted for government-guaranteed
liabilities assumed by the government.
As of October 1 this year, 56% of the outstanding government
securities worth about 7.77 billion manat ($4.6 billion) had
maturities of up to 5 years, while 44% had maturities of 5 years or
more.
As of the reporting period, the average maturity of outstanding
government bonds was 3.64 years. According to the Ministry of
Finance, the maturity of short-term government bonds issued in
previous periods during the first three months of 2026 contributed
to an increase in the average maturity of government bonds.
During the first 9 months of 2026, payments of over 2.29 billion
manat ($1.4 billion) in principal and 397.1 million manat ($233.6
million) in interest and discount payments on government bonds
issued in previous years and reaching maturity were made using
state budget funds.
Share of variable-rate debt
As of October 1, 2026, variable-rate liabilities accounted for
15.6% of the total public debt portfolio.
To keep interest rate risk at an acceptable level, the strategy
sets a target of keeping the share of variable-rate debt in the
total debt portfolio below 50%. As of the reporting date, this
indicator was significantly below the established limit.
Government-guaranteed debt decreases
As of October 1, 2026, the total amount of government-guaranteed
debt stood at nearly 7.89 billion manat ($4.6 billion). This was
equivalent to 5.7% of the country's GDP projected for 2026.
Of the government-guaranteed debt, nearly 4.86 billion manat
($2.9 billion), or 61.6%, accounted for foreign
government-guaranteed loans, while about 3.03 billion manat ($1.8
billion), or 38.4%, accounted for domestic government-guaranteed
loans.
As of January 1, 2026, government-guaranteed debt amounted to
nearly 10.37 billion manat ($6.1 billion), or 8% of GDP for 2025.
Thus, as of the reporting date, government-guaranteed debt had
decreased by 2.48 billion manat ($1.5 billion) since the beginning
of the year.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the significant decline in
government-guaranteed debt was related to the repayment of $2
billion in foreign-currency-denominated bonds issued with a state
guarantee by the Southern Gas Corridor CJSC.
The US dollar accounted for 57.9% of the currency structure of
government-guaranteed debt, the euro for 19.4%, the manat for
16.2%, the Japanese yen for 4.6%, and other currencies for 2%.
By interest rate type, 52.2% of the government-guaranteed debt
portfolio consisted of fixed-rate liabilities, while 47.8%
consisted of variable-rate liabilities.
Thus, the ministry reported that as of October 1, 2026,
Azerbaijan remained within the upper limits established in the
Strategy regarding the ratio of total public debt to GDP, the
volume of external public debt, and the share of variable-interest
debt within the total portfolio; meanwhile, state-guaranteed debt
has decreased significantly since the beginning of the year.
