Commercial banks' short-term external debt rose to 4,821,560 thousand US dollars in the first quarter of 2026, from 4,369,081 thousand in the fourth quarter of 2025 — an increase of 452,479 thousand and the only rise among the four institutional sectors. Combined short-term external debt of the government sector, the National Bank, commercial banks and other sectors reached 6,631,568 thousand in the first quarter of 2026, against 6,272,748 thousand a quarter earlier, so the whole of the increase sits with the banking sector.
The other three sectors reduced their short-term obligations. Other sectors, which cover the non-bank private economy, owed 1,716,722 thousand US dollars, down from 1,801,646 thousand in the fourth quarter of 2025. Government sector short-term external debt fell to 89,474 thousand from 97,648 thousand, and the National Bank's short-term external debt, at 3,812 thousand, is too small to matter for the aggregate. By composition, Georgia's short-term external debt is a commercial banking exposure with a modest corporate tail.
Reserves to short-term external debt stood at 0.84 in the first quarter of 2026, easing by 0.02 from 0.86 in the fourth quarter of 2025 but still well above the 0.73 recorded in the third quarter of 2025. A ratio below 1 means official reserves would not fully cover the external debt falling due within a year, which has been the case through all three quarters shown.
Measured against output, the debt burden continues to fall. Net external debt to GDP was 31.75% in the first quarter of 2026, down from 32.88% in the fourth quarter of 2025 and 35.21% in the third — 3.46 percentage points of decline over two quarters. On an annual basis, gross external debt to GDP fell to 70.4% in 2025 from 73.5% in 2024 and 79.5% in 2023, while government external debt was 24.1% of GDP in 2025 against 24.5% in 2024 and 28.1% in 2023. The composition point is what a reader should take away: the government's external position has improved steadily over three years, while the short-term refinancing requirement is concentrated in the banks and is growing.
Figures in this post
Every number below was checked against the source before publication.
BANKS_DEBT_SHORT_QCommercial banks short-term external debt National Bank of Georgia — downloaded filesEXTERNAL_DEBT_GROSS_TO_GDP_AGross external debt to GDP National Bank of Georgia — downloaded filesEXTERNAL_DEBT_TO_GDP_QNet external debt to GDP National Bank of Georgia — downloaded filesGOVT_DEBT_SHORT_QGovernment sector short-term external debt National Bank of Georgia — downloaded filesGOVT_EXTERNAL_DEBT_TO_GDP_AGovernment external debt to GDP National Bank of Georgia — downloaded filesNATL_BANK_DEBT_SHORT_QNational Bank short-term external debt National Bank of Georgia — downloaded filesOTHER_SECTORS_DEBT_SHORT_QOther sectors short-term external debt National Bank of Georgia — downloaded filesRESERVES_TO_SHORT_TERM_DEBT_QReserves to short-term external debt Computed from other indicators’ stored observations