To reduce its foreign debt, Kyrgyzstan plans to raise more than $1.1 billion from the population. Meanwhile, its budget is periodically refinanced with enormous sums, raised thanks to anti-corruption campaigns.
Bishkek () – Kyrgyzstan is the country in Central Asia that has suffered the most upheavals and transformations, and in this period of great geopolitical changes it is not easy to understand what trends are prevailing at the political and economic level, against the backdrop of a strengthening of the role of state institutions in an authoritarian and centralizing direction. The editors of Radio Azattyk tried to identify in practice the most influential factors in the Bishkek economy.
A fairly notable fact is the decrease in public debt, which actually seemed to increase steadily since 2020, reaching the figure of $6.6 billion. But if this sum is compared with the total volume achieved by the Kyrgyz economy in the last five years, the debt is reduced from 63% to 44%, which is much less than the growth of the country’s general state. By increasing income and finances, it is easier to pay debts, which is what matters most to creditors, and makes new investments possible. To give an example, Japan’s public debt constitutes 250% of its GDP, but Tokyo’s economic power does not make it fear new credits.
As economist Nurgul Akimova explains, “in Kyrgyzstan, the proportion of debt in relation to GDP has been reduced by 45%, which considerably reduces the risk of repayment, but the overall growth of its volume makes it necessary to open new lines of credit to cover State expenses and the implementation of strategic projects. The very structure of the public debt is changing, increasing internal credits in an attempt to reduce foreign loans: in the next three years, the State plans to commit 100 billion soms (more than 1.1 billion dollars) of the population, despite the fact that many deputies have pointed out that internal debts are much more expensive than those assumed by other countries.
Kyrgyzstan’s budget is regularly refinanced with huge sums, raised thanks to anti-corruption campaigns. As stated by the head of services Kamčybek Tašiev, from 2020 to today 209 billion sums have been recovered in this way, compared to a budget outlay in 2020 of 155 billion. One of the most prominent figures in this regard is Rajymbek Matraimov, former vice president of the Customs Agency, extradited in 2024 from Baku to Bishkek, who had to return 200 million dollars, that is, 17 billion soms. It is not very clear how these sums are reinvested, which also affect properties and real estate, such as those attributed to mafia leader Kamči Kolbaev, killed in a shootout with the police in October 2023, which exceed one billion dollars.
One of the most notable trends in Kyrgyzstan is the increasing intervention of the State in the economy, with the construction of mortgaged houses, the activation of new lotteries, the production of alcoholic beverages, real estate insurance, the preparation of medicines, textile production and even taxi services. The largest operation of these years was the nationalization of the Kumtor gold mine, but also of several high-capital banks, the pension fund, airports and energy companies, and war industries, often under the slogan of the fight against corruption and organized crime.
Former Prime Minister Akylbek Žaparov, who was also dismissed at the end of the year due to “fiscal problems”, had stated emphatically at the financial forum in May that “the State has assumed the leading role in the country’s economy, we no longer depend on the invisible hand of the markets, we are the first violin in the orchestra. Now he will have to defend himself in investigations for “conflicts of interest”, which threaten to become the main problem in the development of the Kyrgyz economy.
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