YEREVAN, January 29, /ARKA/. A deputy governor of the Central Bank said today Armenia may seek to restructure its state foreign debt this year. Speaking at a briefing in the government Vache Gabrielian said the move would not mean that Armenia would appear in a worse condition or fall under political pressure.
Vache Gabrielian said many international financial organizations, for example, IMF, have introduced new crediting tools. Thus, in 2009 they had 4-5 such tools, now their number is risen to 10. He also said the bulk of loans given by international lending organizations were allocated in critical conditions and were aimed at helping mitigate the fallout from the global crisis and stabilize the economy.
“By talking about restructuring of our state debt we do not mean it may be written off. Simply some of the terms will be modified. This is a permanent process and when you hear that the government is taking the move do not try to find a political implication behind it,’ he said.
A deputy finance minister Vardan Aramian said Armenia is able to service its foreign debt without facing any difficulties.
“There are countries whose state debt makes 40% of the GDP and there are countries where the ratio is 60%, but they have no problems in paying off their debts. I think the permissible ratio for Armenia is 50%,’ he said. Armenia’s state debt in 2010 is expected to rise to $3.960 billion and make 46.3% of the GDP. -0-
