Tajik Finance Minister Safarali Najmuddinov told a news conference in Dushanbe on 20 July that Tajikistan\'s national debt now stands at $905 million, or 40 percent of GDP, RFE/RL\'s Tajik Service reported. The national debt in 2000 was $1.3 billion, or 70 percent of GDP, Najmuddinov said. Of the $905 million, $710 million is in direct government debt and $127 million in loans taken by Tajikistan\'s National Bank. Tajikistan\'s chief creditors are the World Bank, at $308 million; the Asian Development Bank, at $97 million; the Islamic Development Bank, at $40 million, the European Commission, at $46 million, and the OPEC Fund, at $11 million. (RFE/RL)