The journalist noted that there is public concern over Kyrgyzstan’s debt to China and whether it could put the country in a position of dependence on the People’s Republic of China.

In response, the head of state provided figures on the country’s debt before 2020 and at present.

«Before 2020, our total debt — external and domestic — amounted to $5 billion, equivalent to 70 percent of GDP. Of this, external debt was $4.2 billion, while domestic debt stood at $708 million. In 2026, total debt reached $10 billion, but it amounts to 37 percent of GDP. External debt is $5.2 billion, while domestic debt is $4.8 billion. Our domestic debt is growing, not external debt. External debt has increased by just $1 billion,» the president said.

He added that this $1 billion was borrowed not from China but from various international financial institutions, and that over the past five years Kyrgyzstan had not borrowed a single tyiyn from China.

«On the contrary, we have repaid $500 million of the debt. Before 2020, we owed $1.8 billion to the Export-Import Bank of China (Eximbank). Over five years, we reduced this debt by $500 million, and now we owe the bank $1.3 billion. We will fully repay it by 2035,» Sadyr Japarov said.

He also noted that the government is now taking loans for self-financing projects, including plants and factories. As an example, he cited the construction of Kambar-Ata-1 hydropower plant, saying that once the project is commissioned, its revenues will cover the loan repayments, meaning that state budget funds will not be needed to service the debt.

At the same time, Japarov acknowledged that not all projects are commercial. For example, around 15–20 percent of borrowed funds are spent on road construction.

«We can take out loans up to 70 percent of GDP, but we don’t do that. I am giving the task that the debt should not exceed 50 percent of GDP,» the head of state concluded.