During the first quarter of this year, the gross external debt of the Republic of Moldova decreased by 1.4% due to the decline in both public and private debts. The ratio to the Gross Domestic Product decreased by 2.4 percentage points compared to December 31, 2023.
The National Bank of Moldova said that 70.8% of the gross external debt balance is a long-term debt. The share is by 1.6% lower compared to the end of 2023. The short-term external debt decreased by 0.7 percent as of March 31, 2024 and accounted for 29.2 percent of the total, IPN reports.
“The analysis of the main indicators of the external debt shows a constant quality of advantageous external financing expressed indirectly through the average implicit quarterly interest rate on the external debt in the form of loans and SDR (special drawing rights) allocations,” noted the NBM.
The implied average maturity of the long-term external debt in the form of loans has increased compared to the end of 2023. This indicator is correlated with the evolution of the financing renewal rate, which was high at the end of 2023, thanks to new financing, and during the first quarter of 2024 recorded a substantial decrease confirming the increase in loan repayments attracted during 2023.
The public external debt decreased by 2.4% compared to the end of 2023 and accounted for 36.1% of the total external debt, totaling $3.727,83 billion. The long-term debt accounted for the preponderant part of the balance of the public external. According to the situation on March 31, the International Monetary Fund is the main creditor of the state with a share of 30.6% of the total public debt, followed by the World Bank Group, with 28.2% and the European Investment Bank, with 12.1%.
At the end of the first quarter, the largest share of the external debt, 65.8%, amounting to $6.791,50 billion, was debt in the form of loans, SDR allocations and commitment securities. The direct state debt accounted for a majority share in them, the main creditors being international bodies, but also the governments of other countries, primarily the government of Japan.
The private external debt accounted for 63.9% of the total external debt and amounted to $6.595.84 billion, 0.7% down compared to December 31 due to the decrease in the long-term and short-term debts. According to the maturity structure of the private external debt, the long-term debt held the largest share (54.5%). At the same time, the structure of the private debt by instruments shows that the largest share is held by commercial loans and advances, which increased by 0.3% to $2.469,49 billion.
