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FinObservatory

Chinese overseas lending / GNB

Guinea-Bissau: debt owed to China

In 2021, Guinea-Bissau is estimated to have owed China $11m, equal to 0.6% of its GDP, which ranks it 120 of 126 borrowers in the panel by dollars owed. The estimated stock peaked at $11m in 2021.

$11m
Estimated total, 2021
rank 120 of 126
0.6%
Percent of GDP
2021
$11m
Public and publicly guaranteed
2021
$0
Private non-guaranteed
0.0% of external

The estimated stock, 2000 to 2021

The largest single-year move in the estimated stock is 2011, when it rose by $2.53m.

Public and publicly guaranteedPrivate non-guaranteedPBoC swap drawings

Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, China’s Overseas Lending. Selection: estimated stock owed to China by Guinea-Bissau, by year and instrument, 2000 to 2021. Zeros are estimated zeros (no known loans outstanding), not missing values. Methodology

Against what Guinea-Bissau reports owing to all creditors

Guinea-Bissau reported $1.26bn of total external debt to all creditors in 2021, of which $1.12bn is public and publicly guaranteed. The China estimate is 0.9% of the reported external total and 1.0% of the reported public and guaranteed stock. These are ratios of two different measurements, one estimated and one borrower-reported, and they are not a share of a single consistent total.

Measure, 2021Estimated, owed ChinaReported, all creditorsRatio, %
Total external debt$11m$1.26bn0.9%
Public and publicly guaranteed$11m$1.12bn1.0%

Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, China’s Overseas Lending (estimated stocks), and World Bank International Debt Statistics, borrower-reported via the Debtor Reporting System (all-creditor stocks). Selection: estimated external and PPG stock owed to China in 2021 against Guinea-Bissau's reported DT.DOD.DECT.CD and DT.DOD.DPPG.CD for the same year. Drawn swap balances are excluded from the estimated column: they are a central-bank liability the Debtor Reporting System's long-term-debt concepts do not carry. Methodology