OREANDA-NEWS. Gross external debt, at any given time, is the outstanding amount of those actual current, and not contingent, liabilities that require payment(s) of principal and/or interest by the debtor at some point(s) in the future and that are owed to nonresidents by residents of any economy.

In contrast to the external public debt, which includes only liabilities of the Government to non-residents, the gross external debt covers financial liabilities of all residents of the Republic of Belarus to non-residents which are divided into four basic sectors of the economy: general government, monetary authorities, banks (deposit-taking organizations, except for the central bank), as well as others sectors (other legal and natural persons).

The External Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users (IMF, 2003) (External Debt Guide), the fifth edition of the Balance of Payments Manual (IMF, 1993) and the sixth edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (IMF, 2009) (hereinafter – BPM6) provide the methodological framework for compilation of the external debt.