DUSHANBE, January 29 (RIA Novosti) - Tajikistan's foreign debt increased 29.3% year-on-year in 2007 to $1.12 billion or 30.2% of the country's GDP, a senior finance official in the Central Asian republic said on Tuesday.
"The debt increased largely due to 11 loan agreements worth $154.3 million signed in 2007," said Timurali Avtonov, head of the Finance Ministry's main department for government debt and financial assets.
Avtonov said China and Uzbekistan were the ex-Soviet state's main creditor countries.
In the country's 2008 budget about $44.2 million has been set aside for debt repayment, Avtonov said.
