Kyrgyz MP: Grow opium to beat debt

“To solve this problem [of foreign debt] we need unordinary steps. I know that my suggestion will stir a heated debate,” he said.

 

Foreign public debt in Kyrgyzstan equals about $2 billion, or 72 per cent of GDP, according to recent figures from the International Monetary Fund.

 

Beknazarov pointed out that Kyrgyzstan had had a tradition of opium production, including in Soviet times.

 

Production of the raw product reached 16 per cent of the world total during the 1950s before, authorities put a stop to it in 1973.