Belarus’s external public debt declined by 1.9 percent year-on-year and amounted to $18.2 billion as of December 31, the Finance Ministry said.

The government attracted external loans in amount of $1.273 billion in 2021. The country paid $1.607 billion for the external debt service last year.

The country’s state debt amounted to 58.3 billion rubles ($22.5 billion) as of December 31, 0.9 percent up from a year earlier. Domestic public debt rose by 19.9 percent year-on-year to 11.8 billion rubles.

The country issued bonds in amount of $1.238 billion and 191 million rubles.