«We change our credit policy. We stop taking short-term loans for five years,» the President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbai Jeenbekov said in an interview with Birinchi Radio.
According to him, there is a lot of circulating money in the world. And the Kyrgyz Republic needs to ease the burden of external debt. Therefore, the country prefers to receive soft loans and especially grants.
The head of state noted that these funds will primarily be directed to the implementation of projects that are critical for public health. These are projects on clean water, construction and rehabilitation of irrigation systems, which will create new jobs.
«There are other facilities now. We will direct funds to support export-oriented enterprises, create jobs, build new factories, in particular, we attract funds to the regions — we exempt entrepreneurs, new factories and plants from taxes,» Sooronbai Jeenbekov stressed.
He noted that the time has come to pay off the debts taken 5, 10, 15-20 years ago.
The terms of heavy loans for a period of five years came up. The head of the Kyrgyz Republic assured that there are ongoing negotiations on their prolongation.
«Our partners put themselves in our place, understand the current situation and note their readiness to assist Kyrgyzstan. I myself began to conduct telephone conversations with all financial institutions and heads of the respective states since February. We see the results of this. For example, in June, a memorandum was signed with the Paris Club creditors on the postponement of external debt servicing. We have reached agreements with China, members of the Paris Club — Germany, France, Denmark, Korea, Japan, the Saudi Fund for Development and the Kuwait Fund for Economic Development — to temporarily suspend servicing the external debt. Thanks to them, too. Having understood the situation correctly, they supported us. We agreed to temporarily suspend servicing external debt within the G20 — the 20 largest states,» he said.
The President added that it is proposed to use the debt elimination mechanism through efforts to improve the environment.
«Work in this direction will continue. If this issue is resolved, we will benefit from two sides: first, we will get rid of debts, and second, we will solve environmental issues at our own expense. It would be good for our state, if this is resolved. We will raise this issue at all international forums and platforms,» he said.
