The methodological and conceptual basis for compiling external debt statistics is the joint publication by international organizations, "External Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users," and the sixth edition of the International Monetary Fund's Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6).

External debt data is classified as follows:

1. By institutional sector – general government, central bank, banks, other sectors, intercompany lending. Intercompany lending is allocated in a separate position and includes debt obligations to foreign direct investors, foreign direct investment enterprises and to foreign fellow enterprises

2. By maturity – short-term liabilities (with an initial maturity of one year or less or payable on demand) and long-term liabilities (with an initial maturity of more than one year).

3. By type of debt instruments – special drawing rights (SDR), cash and deposits, debt securities, loans and borrowings, trade loans and advances, other liabilities.

Equity instruments, units/shares of investment funds and derivative financial instruments are not included in the external debt.

Analytical comments on the external debt for the reporting period are presented in the quarterly publication “Balance of Payments and External Debt of the Republic of Kazakhstan”.

For analytical purposes, in order to identify debt obligations directly or indirectly related to the budget sector, statistics are additionally compiled on the category of Public sector external debt statistics.
The public sector debt statistics includes the central bank, general government, banks and other sectors in which the public sector directly or indirectly owns more than 50 percent of the capital participation or otherwise controls it. The remaining banks and other sectors belong to the private sector.