TEHRAN- According to the newest data released by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), Iran’s debts to foreign lenders in the end of the ninth Iranian month of Azar (December 21, 2018) stood at $10 billion, showing 11 percent decrease in comparison with the announced figure at the beginning of current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2018), IRIB reported on Monday.

In Azar, from the total of $10.093 billion of foreign debt, $6.86 billion was mid-term and long-term debts and $3.174 billion was short-term debts, the report confirmed.

External debt is the portion of a country's debt that was borrowed from foreign lenders including commercial banks, governments or international financial institutions. These loans, including interest, must usually be paid in the currency in which the loan was made.

Foreign debt as percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the ratio between the debt a country owes to non-resident creditors and its nominal GDP.

As IRIB reported, Iran’s GDP was $431.92 billion in 2017, thus the ratio between the debt and GDP is around 2.5 percent, which is not big.

MA/MA