Azerbaijan’s total public debt dropped by more than 2 billion manats in the first nine months of 2026 to 23.9 billion manats, while external debt fell to $4.5 billion. The decline was driven mainly by state gas company Southern Gas Corridor CJSC repaying $2 billion in state-guaranteed bonds.
Azerbaijan’s public debt stood at 23 billion 896.3 million manats as of October 1, equal to 17.3% of the gross domestic product (GDP) projected for 2026, according to a report from the agency responsible for managing state debt. Domestic debt accounts for the bulk of the total — 67.9%, or 16 billion 230.1 million manats — while the remaining 32.1%, or 7 billion 666.2 million manats, is owed to foreign creditors.
Since the start of the year, domestic debt has fallen by 1 billion 574.4 million manats, while external debt has declined by $304 million, or roughly 516.8 million manats. As a result, external public debt dropped to $4 billion 509.5 million, comprising $3 billion 122.2 million in loans and $1 billion 387.3 million in eurobonds.
Repayment schedule for external debt
The report shows that 67.7% of external public debt, or $3 billion 52.7 million, must be repaid within the next five years. A further $1 billion 210.6 million falls due in 5-10 years, with $246.2 million maturing beyond 10 years. This breakdown matters for the budget’s cash planning and the government’s borrowing strategy going forward.
Domestic public debt reached 16 billion 230.1 million manats by the end of the reporting period, equivalent to 11.8% of GDP. Of this, 7 billion 766.2 million manats consists of government securities in circulation, while 8 billion 463.9 million manats represents government-guaranteed obligations.
Sharp drop in guaranteed debt
State-guaranteed debt totaled 7 billion 886 million manats as of October 1, down from 10 billion 368.4 million manats at the start of the year — a nine-month decline of 2 billion 482.4 million manats, or about 23.9%. The agency attributed the drop to Southern Gas Corridor CJSC redeeming $2 billion worth of foreign-currency bonds issued under a state guarantee.
Over the nine months, the state budget transferred $1 billion 52.6 million (principal and interest combined) to service external loans, along with 2 billion 694.3 million manats for domestic bond obligations.
Reserves 20 times larger than external debt
Azerbaijan’s strategic currency reserves climbed to $89.4 billion as of October 1, up $4.3 billion, or 5.1%, from the end of last year. That figure is 19.8 times larger than the country’s external public debt.
The agency said Azerbaijan continues to meet its targets of keeping public debt below 30% of GDP and external debt under $10 billion. It also noted that guaranteed debt is tracked as a separate indicator, and since part of it is already included in domestic public debt, adding its full amount to total public debt would be inaccurate.
