Published
02/09/2026, 10:16Kyrgyzstan has significantly improved its financial stability indicators over the past year: the level of external debt coverage by international reserves increased from 36.3% to 58.3% as of October 1, 2025, according to regional statistics.
Thus, the republic increased its reserve coverage by almost 22 percentage points over the year, showing the most significant growth among the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union.
For comparison, in Armenia, the coverage level increased from 22.6% to 24.1%, in Belarus — from 24.4% to 35.8%, and in Kazakhstan — from 26.8% to 33.5%. Russia maintains a significant margin of safety, with an indicator exceeding 230%.
Against this backdrop, Kyrgyzstan's dynamics look the most impressive. The republic has approached a level where more than half of its external debt can be covered by international reserves without attracting additional financing.
The growth of the indicator is primarily associated with an increase in the volume of gold and foreign exchange reserves and an increase in their value. In 2025, the National Bank actively increased the gold component of its reserves. According to the head of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic, Melis Turgunbaev, international reserves grew to $8.6 billion by the end of 2025 and exceeded $10 billion by the end of January this year.
Additional support was provided by the rise in gold prices. The price of the precious metal has risen significantly in the long term, even taking into account the recent sharp fall in quotations. Over the year, an ounce of gold provided its owners with a return of 64.2% (as of February 3).
Strengthening reserve coverage increases a country's resilience to external shocks — currency market fluctuations, rising interest rates, and declining capital inflows. For international lenders and investors, this indicator is one of the key indicators of a country's solvency.
