Uzbekistan's national debt could reach $45 billion by 2025.

Next year, this indicator is expected to grow by 13.3% to reach $45 billion, accounting for 36.4% of GDP. By 2027, the level of public debt may rise to $55.9 billion; however, the debt-to-GDP ratio will increase only slightly to 36.7%.

According to the draft state budget for the upcoming year, Uzbekistan plans to attract more loans by increasing its public debt.

This year, the limit for attracting external borrowings amounts to $5 billion with a government guarantee, while next year it will rise to $5.5 billion. Of this amount, $3 billion (currently $2.5 billion) will be allocated to support the state budget, and $2.5 billion will be dedicated to financing investment projects.

To diversify the public debt portfolio and mitigate currency risks, it is planned to set a maximum net volume of government securities issued on behalf of Uzbekistan at 30 trillion soms by 2025 (for 2024, it will be 25 trillion soms).

Additionally, to reduce risks for the state budget, an upper limit has been established for the cost of new public-private partnership projects that involve state obligations (purchases or payments) at 6.5 billion.

Expenditures on state programs funded by external debt could reach 18.8 trillion soms (11.8 trillion soms in 2024).

It is anticipated that the share of funds allocated for servicing public debt in the consolidated budget (which includes the state budget, budgets of state targeted funds, off-budget funds of budget organizations, and resources of the Reconstruction and Development Fund) will increase from 7.5% to 9.6%.

For servicing public debt, 46.08 trillion soms is planned to be allocated from the budget (at the average annual exchange rate next year, this will amount to about $3.48 billion), of which 21.1 trillion soms will go toward interest payments. In comparison, in 2024, it is planned to allocate 32.27 trillion soms ($2.55 billion) for debt repayment, including 16.4 trillion soms for interest payments.