Moldova’s gross external debt rose by 4.8% in nominal terms compared with the start of the year, but declined by 7.4 percentage points in relation to the Gross Domestic Product. On December 31, 2018, this stood at US$ 7,302.02 million, which is 64.6% of the GDP, IPN reports, quoting the National Bank of Moldova.

The public and publicly-guaranteed external debt represented 26.6% of the external debt, totaling  US$ 1,938.89 million (-3% compared with January). The private non-guaranteed external debt came to 5 363.13 million, an increase of 8% on December 31, 2017. The long-term debt accounted for 72.2% of the external debt. In 2018, the short-term external debt continued to rise (+15.2% on December 31, 2017). This was mainly due to the augmentation of the external commitments in the form of trade credits and advances.

The external debt in the form of loans, Special Drawing Rights and commitment titles totaled US$ 4,732.31 million, which is 64.8% of the gross external debt, 41% of which represented the debt of the public sector (debt of the National Bank, direct state debt, debt of public corporations and territorial-administrative units). 59% represented the loans raised by private business entities.

Moldova enjoyed the support of international organizations, the Government benefitting from US$ 144.82 million in 2018 for projects financed with foreign funds. According to the data for December 31, 2018, the World Bank Group is the largest lender with a share of 36.7% of the total public external dent or US$712.34 million.