Serbia’s total foreign debt reached EUR 22.8 billion at the end of last year, which is 74.1 percent of GDP, the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) released Friday. The foreign debt stayed at almost the same level in the first three quarters of 2009, but rose by 4.6 percent in the final quarter.

The slump in economic activity, however, caused the share of the foreign debt in the GDP to go up by 9.6 percentage points in 2009 and reach 74.1 percent, NBS said. A total of EUR 5.7 billion was granted in new long-term loans in 2009, of which EUR 3.3 billion in the public sector.

All long-term lending totaled EUR 4.1 billion, while EUR 2.6 billion of principal and EUR 0.6 billion of interest were repayed. The repayment structure of the foreign debt improved compared to a year ago – short-term loans accounted for 10 percent of the total debt at the end of 2009, compared to 11.1 percent at the end of 2008.

The greatest portion of the foreign debt is denominated in euros (77 percent), followed by US dollars (12 percent), Swiss francs (five percent), and other currencies (six percent). Business sector debt amounted to EUR 10.9 billion at the end of 2009, a six percent reduction from the year before.

Companies received EUR 2.3 billion in foreign loans last year, 30 percent of which came in the last quarter. The business sector repayed a total of EUR 686 million in 2009.

The planned borrowing from foreign creditors totals EUR 5.2 billion this year, EUR 2.7 billion of which will go to the public sector. The foreign loans to the private sector will total EUR 2.6 billion, of which 1.2 billion will be used in the banking sector and EUR 1.4 billion in the business sector.