The Czech Republic’s external debt fell by 11.1 billion crowns to 4.389 trillion at the end of September in the third quarter. It was thus CZK 57.3 billion lower year-on-year. The Czech Republic’s debt to foreign countries corresponds to 77.6 percent of gross domestic product. This follows from preliminary data published today by the Czech National Bank (CNB).
Seventy-four percent of the foreign debt went to the private sector. The remaining part consisted of public sector liabilities, which include liabilities of the government sector and private entities guaranteed by the government and debts of companies with a majority state participation. The structure of external debt by individual sector was determined in Q3 by a decline in government and banking indebtedness, including the CNB’s liabilities.
The share of the general government sector in the total external debt was 18.8 percent at the end of September. The debt of the banking sector was 38.6 percent of total debt. According to the CNB, the repayment of short-term liabilities contributed to the decline in the banking sector’s external debt. In other sectors, external debt increased, due to borrowing from enterprises not related to direct investment. Foreign liabilities of other sectors accounted for 42.6 percent of total debt at the end of September.
In the structure of external debt by instrument, the most common forms of debt financing are deposits and bonds. In total, they make up 52.5 percent of foreign debt.
