TEHRAN – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest regional economic outlook for “The Middle East and Central Asia Region (ME&CA)” stated that Iran has the least foreign debt among the countries in the mentioned region.

The fund has put the ratio of Iran’s external debt to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at 0.5 percent in its report, IRNA reported.

Based on IMF data, the average ratio of foreign debt to total GDP for the countries of the region was estimated at 35.8 percent, while the figure for oil-exporting countries was reported to be 30.9 percent.

According to IMF, Bahrain had the highest volume of foreign debt in the region; the ratio of Bahrain's foreign debt to its GDP this year was 207.3 percent. Sudan ranks second with a ratio of 189.4 percent, and Qatar ranks third with a ratio of 134 percent.

Iran has been ranked the world’s seventh country in terms of the lowest foreign debt to GDP ratio, according to established international sources.

Brunei, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Turkmenistan, New Caledonia, Nigeria, Iran, Algeria, Greenland, and the Virgin Islands are the world’s top 10 countries with the lowest foreign debt to GDP ratio, respectively.

Back in February, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) had put the country’s foreign debt at $9.067 billion by the end of the eighth month of the previous Iranian calendar year (November 21, 2021).

Of the total foreign debt, $6.619 billion was mid-term and long-term debts while $2.447 billion was short-term debts, the data indicated, IRIB reported.

External debt is the portion of a country's debt that is 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 a percentage of GDP is the ratio between the debt a country owes to non-resident creditors and its nominal GDP.

EF/MA