Central Bank Estimates Russia's Foreign Debt Down to $600 Billion for 2014

As of January 1, 2015, Russia’s foreign debt stands at $599.497 billion, 17 percent down on the year, according to the Central Bank's preliminary report.

MOSCOW, January 20 (Sputnik) – Russia’s foreign debt as of January 1, 2015, stands at $599.497 billion against last year’s $728.864 billion, or down by 17.7 percent year on year, according to preliminary figures issued by the Bank of Russia on Tuesday.

The lion’s share of foreign debt is distributed among banks at $171.105 billion, as well as $10.407 billion on the Central Bank of Russia.

Foreign debt, or external debt, is money a country owes to foreign creditors.

According to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook, the foreign debt of the United States as of 2013 was estimated at $15.68 trillion, the highest in the world. The United Kingdom’s debt, the second highest, was estimated at $9.577 trillion.

The CIA has put Russia on the 22nd place in the list of countries by external debt.