Serbia foreign debt at 85.6 percent of GDP at end of 2012

Serbia's foreign debt totaled EUR 25.7 billion at the end of 2012, up by EUR 1.6 billion or 6.6 percent from 2011, the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) said in a release on Friday (1 March 2013).

According to analysis results published on the website of the central bank - www.nbs.rs, the foreign debt at the end of December was up EUR 888.8 million or 3.6 percent from the end of September 2012.

The growth of foreign debt during the last quarter of 2012 was influenced by government borrowing in international financial markets, while private sector debt declined.

The share of foreign debt in the estimated GDP as the main indicator of external solvency stood at the end of the fourth quarter and 85.6 percent - 3.1 percentage points up compared to the end of the previous quarter.

An analysis posted on the central bank (NBS) website said that Serbia's public debt at the end of December 2012 reached EUR 17.7 billion, up by EUR 1.8 billion compared to end-September.

Public debt increased last year by 2.9 billion, and its share in the estimated GDP grew by 10.5 percentage points.

The biggest influence on the increase of the figure during the last quarter of 2012 was the sale of Eurobonds in the international financial market.