"Azerbaijan's government debt will increase to 22.7%," this was stated by Fitch Ratings international credit rating agency in its rating assessment for Azerbaijan, Paralel.Az-Economics reports.

"We project government debt to increase modestly to 22.7% of GDP by 2026, one of the lowest among Fitch's investment-grade sovereigns, after increasing by 10pp to 21.8% of GDP due to the recognition of previously domestically guaranteed debt in 2023.

External debt has declined in absolute terms in recent years, currency composition has improved and about two-thirds of external debt is to official creditors. External government guarantees and on-lending declined to USD6 billion (8.2% of GDP) in 2023, from USD6.4 billion in 2022, with most of this related to the Southern Gas Corridor project, which is profitable and not likely to require sovereign support," the reports says.